Central Crime Branch officials on Monday night arrested Aditya Alva in Chennai in connection with a drug racket case involving the Kannada film industry, also known as the Sandalwood drugs case, The Hindu reported.
Alva, who is a brother-in-law of actor Vivek Oberoi and son of former Karnataka minister Jeevaraj Alva, was absconding since September.
“Aditya Alva, who was absconding for over four months was arrested on Monday night,” Sandeep Patil, Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) said, according to The News Minute. “We were involved in a continuous operation to arrest him. We received a tip that he was in Chennai after which a team arrested him.”
Central Crime Branch officials brought Alva to Bengaluru for questioning, The News Minute reported, adding that he was likely to be produced before a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances court on Tuesday.
Last month, the Supreme Court denied Alva’s plea to quash the first information report against him registered at the Cottonpet Police Station in Bengaluru in connection with the drugs case. The court also denied Alva’s plea to procure anticipatory bail.
Alva, who is accused number 6 in the Sandalwood drugs case, allegedly arranged for parties to be held at his house in Hebbal area in Bengaluru, where drugs were sold, according to The Hindu. He was among the 17 people who are booked in the case in which actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani have been arrested. In September, the Narcotics Control Bureau had arrested three more people in Bengaluru for allegedly supplying drugs to actors and singers in the Kannada film industry In October, the crime branch had also raided Oberoi’s house in Mumbai, looking for Alva, while he was on the run.
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