NCB probe: Absconding accused held; Rs 2.5 crore drugs seized

The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested an absconding accused in a drugs case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and also seized a
contraband worth Rs 2.5 crore during raids in Mumbai, an NCB official said on Wednesday. The NCB official claimed it is the "biggest seizure"
of drugs in the case linked to Rajput's death.

The accused, identified as Regel Mahakal, was arrested late Tuesday night after raids in some areas of Mumbai, including Lokhandwala, by an NCB team led by the probe
agency's zonal director Sameer Wankhede, the official said.

A contraband, 'Malana cream', worth Rs 2.5 crore was seized during the raids, he said.

One more person was also arrested during the raids, the official said without divulging further details.

Mahakal's name had cropped up during questioning of some drugs peddlers in the case. He allegedly used to supply drugs to Anuj Keshwani, also an accused in the case who was arrested in September this year, who was supplying it to others, the official said.

Meanwhile, Mahakal was on Wednesday produced before a magistrate's court here which remanded him in the NCB's custody till December 11.

The NCB told the court that the investigation into the case was incomplete and Mahakal's custody was required to confront him with other arrested accused, special public
prosecutor Atul Sarpande said. The probe agency also told the court that it need to question him about his WhatsApp chats, he said.

Based on some WhatsApp chats involving drugs, the NCB has been probing the alleged use of drugs in some quarters of Bollywood after the death of Rajput in June this year.

The central agency had earlier arrested Rajput's girlfriend, actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty, some staff members of Rajput and a few others
under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Rhea Chakraborty, her brother, and some other accused were later granted bail.