Published 15:47 IST, September 22nd 2020
NCB looking into KWAN's ownership, top superstar as Bollywood drug probe widens: Sources
As per sources, the owner of talent management agency KWAN - Dhruv Chitgopekar is suspected to be a big player and is under the scanner.
With the Bollywood Drug Nexus exploding, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is said to have accessed evidence linking top stars of the industry. As per sources, the owner of talent management agency KWAN - Dhruv Chitgopekar is suspected to be a big player and is under the scanner. Sources have also informed that the agency is further probing the ownership of KWAN - which is suspected to be co-owned by a top Bollywood star.
The talent management agency employee Karishma Prakash - who manages Deepika Padukone - and has also been summoned by the investigating agency. Currently, the NCB is interrogating KWAN CEO Dhruv Chitgopekar in connection with the drug nexus.
With NCB's massive crackdown on the drug nexus, panic has struck the industry as sources have informed that 6 top male Bollywood actors have called their lawyers to discuss the future course. The actors, who are said to be in panic, have sought legal advice in case their names crop up or they face summoning.
During the NCB's investigation into the drugs angle in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, a wider drug nexus in Bollywood surfaced which is now unraveling with alarming evidence coming to the fore.
2017 drug chats accessed
Republic Media Network had earlier accessed the WhatsApp chats of an actor 'D' (who was later confirmed as being Deepika Padukone) and 'K' - confirmed to be Deepika's manager Karishma Prakash - who were both part of the WhatsApp group with Jaya Saha and would apparently use it to coordinate drugs.
The chats accessed are from October 2017 and show 'D' asking for "maal" from 'K' who replies that she has it, but at home. Further 'K' said that she can ask 'Amit' if she wants it, as "he is carrying". 'D' also then clarifies that she needs "Hash" and not "weed" as the two discuss logistics. Following that, another set of conversations came to the fore where Jaya Saha is discussing providing drugs to another pair of actors, 'S' and 'N'.
There are at least two angles running in tandem in terms of the NCB's investigation into the link between Bollywood and drugs - regarding the Sushant Singh Rajput-Rhea Chakraborty and associated angle and regarding Manjinder Singh Sirsa's complaint about a 2019 Bollywood party video that had emerged earlier in which a lot of Bollywood stars were present.
Updated 16:16 IST, September 22nd 2020