Bollywood Drugs Probe: Rakul Preet questioned for 4 hours, Deepika to depose tomorrow | UPDATES

With many stars joining the drug probe which emerged out of the mysterious death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing the Bollywood actor's family, said that the NCB probe is overshadowing and hindering the investigation behind the real truth in the death case.

"Why call the whole of Bollywood? There are no seizures from these people who have been called today or tomorrow. In an NDPS case, everything depends on the quantity, the family feels it is being done to divert from the main issue (death case of sushant)," said Vikas Singh while holding a press conference in New Delhi on Friday.

The senior advocate further stated that media attention is being diverted from the case by calling the big stars.

"CBI has not issued a single press statement regarding the probe and the direction in which the investigation is going is a little worrying for the family," Singh said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday said that it has not got any request from Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone's husband Ranveer Singh to join the probe along with his wife on Saturday in a drugs related case.

An NCB official, requesting anonymity said that it has not received any request from Singh. He said, "We confirm that we have not received any such request from any summoned person. The last email received from the concerned summoned person is only regarding joining the investigation."

Deepika was summoned on Wednesday by the NCB to appear before the drug law enforcement agency in a drugs related case after her alleged chats with her former manager Karishma Prakash came to light. Deepika was earlier asked to join the probe on Friday, however, on her request the agency asked her to depose before it on Saturday.

An NCB source said that Deepika will be questioned if she consumed drugs. If yes she will be asked since when and from where she used to procure the drugs for her consumption. How did she make the payment for the drugs, who all along with her consumed the drugs, whether the drugs were meant for her consumption alone or also for others, the source added.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said that the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and the resultant investigations into the drug cases would be "politicised during the Bihar elections" announced this afternoon.

"It was a long-planned drama... The Bihar government does not have any developmental or governance issues to speak about... They have started campaigning with posters of Sushant. So, it's obvious why the Sushant case and drugs matters were blown out of proportion," Raut told mediapersons.

He demanded to know that with the drugs case handled by the Narcotics Control Bureau, "what has happened to the CBI probe in the Sushant case" now that the former Bihar DPG Gupteshwar Pandey has quit the IPS to contest state polls.

 In what looks like more trouble for the biggest names in Bollywood, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) could summon several top actors, directors and producers of tinsel town for questioning. The development comes when Siromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa has claimed that the drug law enforcement agency is set to summon filmmaker Karan Johar soon in a drug-related case.

Sirsa had filed a complaint with the NCB chief Rakesh Asthana last week over the alleged drug party hosted at Johar's residence in 2019 where several top actors were in attendance including Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, Malaika Arora and several others.

Sirsa took to twitter and wrote, "Sources have told me that Karan Johar is soon going to be summoned by the NCB. He will be questioned about the 2019 drug party."

Actress Raveen Tandon on Friday said celebrities are soft targets in the ongoing drugs-related investigation. The actress feels the war against drugs should be across the country, and not just be restricted to probing film industries.

Raveena expressed her opinion on her verified Twitter account, retweeting a post she had shared earlier this week, which reads: "Twas high time for clean up to happen. Very welcome! Will help our young/future generations. Start from here, surely, proceed to all sectors. Uproot it from its core. Punish th Guilty, users, the dealers/suppliers. The profiting Big Guys on the take, who give it a blind eye and ruin people."

Reacting to her old tweet, the actress wrote Friday: "The 'Big Guys' In my tweet. No drug supplying can happen without the ashirwad of local authorities. Those are the Big fish that swim away unquestioned. If a Journo can reach the suppliers on stings. Can't the authorities sniff them out? Celebrities are soft targets."

Deepika Padukone's assistant Karishma Prakash revealed during NCB interrogation that the actress was the admin of the WhatsApp group, chats of which are going viral on the internet. The group included Karishma, Deepika and Jaya Saha and they used to talk about drugs through it.

Rakul Preet Singh admits that she talked to Rhea Chakraborty about drugs in 2018 during NCB interrogation. The actress left the NCB guest house after four hours of questioning.

Dharma production is on NCB radar as the investigation has reached more than a single person. More people related to the production house are going to be interrogated. NCB is looking into those people who make films in Karan Johar's production house. Are they involved in the syndicate of drugs? How do they operate? Who is involved in it? From how often? Through whom drugs were imported? Did Karan's party in which the film stars were seen, those people are also involved in a drugs syndicate? These questions are being interrogated. Also, drugs have been found in the search today at Kshitij's house.

(Rajiv Singh)

According to Mumbai NCB sources, another assistant director related to Karan Johar's Dharma Production is being interrogated. The assistant director is named Anubhav Chopra who is at the NCB office undergoing interrogation. Anubhav is said to be close to Kshitij.

(Rajiv Singh)

The Narcotics Control Bureau has issued summons to Dharma Production Executive Producer Kshitij Prasad in the drugs case, who will be interrogated at NCB's Mumbai office today. According to sources, NCB has got some important clues according to which Kshitij Prasad was in contact with some drug peddlers.

In such a situation, the question is whether the NCB team will reveal the truth of Karan Johar's party through Kshitij Prasad?

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NCB sources claim, "There are questions that whether Ranveer Singh is joining investigation with Deepika. We confirm that we have not received any such request from any summoned person. The last email received from the concerned summoned person is only regarding joining the investigation."

(Rajiv Singh)

Sushant Singh Rajput's family lawyer Vikas Singh claims that the actor was murdered by strangulation. He questions why CBI is not filing a murder case. He adds that he sent pictures of Sushant's body to an AIIMS doctor who confirmed that Sushant was murdered.

AIIMS forensic team head Sudhir Gupta reacted to the claims and said that there were ligature marks on Sushant's neck but it cannot be said that it was due to suicide or murder. 

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Actress Deepika Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash reaches NCB office for interrogation. Karishma works at KWAN Talent Management Company. Her name surfaced during NCB interrogation with Sushant's talent manager Jaya Saha.

Actress Rakul Preet Singh reaches the NCB office for interrogation in the Bollywood drug probe. 

Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota says that people taking drugs is as much a serious issue as war with China and Pakistan. He adds that while it is important to arrest those who are involved in drugs, the entire industry should not be blamed for it. He further claims that the money that goes into drugs is used for terrorism and also makes the youth of the country weak.

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Unit teams are conducting raids at three different locations in Mumbai.

Ranveer Singh has asked the NCB if he can be present during his wife Deepika Padukone’s questioning in the Bollywood Drugs case on Saturday.

In his application to the NCB, Ranveer has stated that Deepika Padukone sometimes suffers from anxiety and gets panic attacks so he should be granted permission to be with her.

Ranveer added that he is a law abiding citizen and knows he can’t be present at the time of Deepika's questioning but is understood to have requested that he be allowed inside the NCB office.

However, no decision has been taken by the NCB on his application.

(Rajiv Singh)

Actress Rakul Preet Singh leaves for the NCB office for questioning.

(Namrata Dubey)

Dharma Productions director and executive producer Kshitij Ravi Prasad will join the probe today. NCB team is at his residence and search is going on.

(Rajiv Singh)

After grilling the TV couple Sanam Johar and Abigail Pandey's house for hours on Thursday, NCB raided their house on Friday. Earlier, the officials had found 'charas' from their house.

Sushant Singh Rajput's sister Shweta Singh Kirti shared a few throwback pictures from her sangeet ceremony on social media. The pictures show the brother-sister duo dancing and enjoying the ceremony. She wrote, "Bhai and I dancing at my Sangeet. Treasured Memories."

Actor Shekhar Suman seems disappointed with the way investigation into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput seems to have slowed down. He feels the focus of the probe has been diverted to the alleged drug links of Bollywood.

"Druggies ko marne do.. salakhon ke peeche dalo, desh se nikalo, film se nikalo humey koi matlab nahin. Humey sirf ye batao Sushant ko kisne maara aur kyon? Kahan gaye pithani, neeraj, samuel, khatri, cook, locksmith, ambulance waala, naqab waali ladki and the whole gang (Let the druggies die.. jail them, drive let out of the country, throw them out of films, we don't care. What we want to know is who killed Sushant and why? Where are Pithani, Neeraj, Samuel, Khatri, cook, locksmith, ambulance driver, masked girl and the whole gang)," Shekhar tweeted.

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Saturday will be a very important day in the NCB investigation. Today, Rakul Preet Singh, Deepika's manager Karishma will arrive at the NCB Guest House, where Deputy Director KPS Malhotra and his team will interrogate them.

On Saturday, Deepika Padukone will appear at NCB Guest House for questioning. Actresses Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan will also join the drugs probe on Saturday.

Bollywood actress Rakul Preet Singh arrived in Mumbai on Thursday night to join the probe into the drugs case today. Narcotics Control Bureau has asked the actress to appear for interrogation at 11 am today.