Published 12:26 IST, September 24th 2020
NCB summons Karan Johar's company's executive Kshitij Prasad In Drug Probe; raids his home
In a massive development in NCB's Bollywood drug nexus probe, the central anti-drug agency has summoned Dharma Production's Executive producer Kshitij Prasad
In a massive development in the Narcotics Control Bureau's Bollywood drug nexus probe, Karan Johar's Dharma Production is under the scanner of the anti-drug agency as the NCB has summoned Executive Producer & director Kshitij Ravi Prasad who is employed by the production house. He has been asked to join the probe by 11 am on Friday. According to sources, Kshitiz is in Delhi now and his house was also searched.
His summons are to take place on the same day as Deepika Padukone is to be questioned by the agency. Deepika is said to arrive in Mumbai at 2:30 pm after taking a chartered flight from Goa.
Meanwhile, the Narcotics Control Bureau on Thursday debunked actor Rakul Preet Singh's claims revealing that due summons had been issued to the actor digitally as well. This comes shortly after Rakul's team claimed that she had not received the "alleged summons" in either Mumbai or Hyderabad so far. According to the sources, the actor has acknowledged the summons and will be joining the probe on Friday - on the same day as Deepika and Kshitij.
Simone Khambatta and Shruti Modi are at the NCB at the time of writing. Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan are summoned on Saturday.
Deepika Padukone's name emerges in drug chat
Deepika Padukone's name had emerged in one of the WhatsApp chats where the actor is allegedly asking for 'maal, hash' from a 'K' who was later confirmed as her manager, Karishma Prakash. The chats accessed are from October 2017 and show Deepika asking for "maal" from 'K' who replies that she has it, but at home. Further 'K' says that she can ask 'Amit' if she wants it, as "he is carrying". Deepika 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', of which 'S' has turned out to be Shraddha Kapoor, as per sources. Meanwhile, Sara’s questioning comes after NCB confirmed that her name had emerged in the questioning of the Rhea Chakraborty case.
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. The video in question had been shared by Karan Johar and had taken place at his house. The NCB has transferred the complaint to Mumbai and is verifying the video.
Updated 16:19 IST, September 27th 2020