The investigators of the Narcotics Control Bureau on Monday raided the Mumbai residence of actor Arjun Rampal, in relation to a drugs case, ANI reported. It was not immediately clear whether the actor was charged with anything.
The central agency said it has seized electronic gadgets from the actor and asked him to join the investigation on November 11.
The searches at Rampal’s house were a part of three raids conducted by the central agency in Andheri, Khar and Bandra areas of Mumbai, according to The Times of India. The investigators’ action was an attempt by the NCB to “unravel the network of drug supplies” to Bollywood personalities, according to NDTV.
The NCB had previously taken Rampal’s partner Gabriella Demetriades’ brother Agisilaos Demetriades into custody over connections with peddlers arrested in an ongoing drug case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
He was granted bail by a special court on Friday. His bail plea was allowed by the court with conditions, including Demetriades being directed to deposit his passport to the NCB. However, the agency took Demetriades’ custody again in relation to another drug case on Saturday, according to The Indian Express.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has launched a crackdown on film personalities’ allegedly drug-fuelled lifestyles, claiming to have unearthed a close nexus between illegal drug consumption and the film industry. On September 8, the NCB had arrested Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty in a drug case related to Rajput’s death, and also questioned Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the same matter.
The drugs agency said its investigations were based on purported WhatsApp chats between various actors that were allegedly found on their phones.
On Sunday, the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Shabana Saeed, the wife of Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala, after investigators seized 10 grams of marijuana during a raid at their Juhu residence in Mumbai. The agency searched Nadiadwala’s home in Juhu on Sunday following the arrest of drug peddler Wahid Abdul Kadir Shaikh in Andheri West five days ago. Saeed was charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Earlier on October 26, the agency had arrested five people in Mumbai, including television actor Preetika Chauhan. Chauhan, who has worked in several TV serials like Maa Vaishnodevi, CID, was arrested when she was buying drugs in Versova area of the city, while a Tanzanian national was caught with cocaine from South Mumbai.
The anti-drug agency also arrested three other peddlers and seized charas, MDMA and methamphetamine. All the five accused were produced in the court on Sunday and sent to judicial custody till November 8.
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