Actor Arjun Rampal’s sister, Komal Rampal, arrived at the Narcotics Control Bureau office on Monday morning for questioning in an ongoing investigation into the film industry’s alleged links with drug peddlers and cartels, reported the Hindustan Times. The actor and his partner, Gabriella Demetriades, have already been questioned in the case.
Komal Rampal was summoned after her brother reportedly told the NCB that one of the two banned medicines found in his home during a raid in November was for his sister, according to NDTV. The central agency had issued the summons days after Komal Rampal, an air hostess and a former Miss India contestant, did not appear before the NCB, citing ill health.
After the NCB seized the medicine during the raids, the actor said that he had a prescription for the medicine, which he showed to the investigators. The NCB is checking the prescription’s authenticity.
The central agency has also summoned Muchhad Paanwala, Mumbai’s famous betel nut seller. His name had cropped up during the questioning of Karan Sajnani, a Britisher arrested on January 9, for allegedly supplying imported strains of marijuana in the city, an official said.
The narcotic agency had previously taken Agisilaos Demetriades, the brother of Gabriella Demetriades, into custody for links with peddlers arrested in the drug case. The NCB has also arrested Paul Bartel, an Australian architect whose name emerged during the questioning of Agisilaos Demetriades.
The narcotics agency started the Bollywood drug probe after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose body was found at his Mumbai residence in June. The NCB claims to have unearthed a close nexus between illegal drug consumption and the film industry.
On September 8, its investigators 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 agency had described Chakraborty as an “active member of a drug syndicate”. She was granted bail on October 7.
The NCB had on November 8 arrested Shabana Saeed, the wife of Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala, after investigators seized 10 grams of marijuana during a raid at her Juhu residence in Mumbai. On October 26, the agency had arrested five people in Mumbai, including television actor Preetika Chauhan. In November, comedian Bharti Singh and her husband were also arrested. They were later granted bail on November 24.
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