Published 14:52 IST, September 28th 2020
Rhea-Kshitij's lawyer drags Karan Johar's name amid Bollywood drug probe; not named by NCB
Kshitij Prasad & Rhea's lawyer Satish Maneshinde told the court that the accused was "harassed & blackmailed" to give a statement and name Karan Johar
A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded Kshitij Ravi Prasad, who was earlier hired as an executive producer by a firm of filmmaker Karan Johar, in NCB's custody till October 3 following his arrest in a drugs case linked to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. During the hearing, Kshitij Prasad's lawyer Satish Maneshinde - who is also the lawyer of Rhea Chakraborty - told the court that the accused was "harassed and blackmailed" to give a statement and invoked Karan Johar's name.
'they would let him off if...'
Maneshinde, who represents not only Rhea Chakraborty but also her brother Showik, told the court that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials pressurised Kshitij Prasad to name Karan Johar during the interrogation. He was also subjected to third-degree and ill-treatment, the lawyer alleged.
Maneshinde then requested the court to record Prasad's statement, which it allowed. Prasad told the court that during a raid at his house the NCB did not find anything, except stale and dry cigarette butt, which they "believed to be a ganja joint", a note shared by his lawyer said.
"...Kshitij was categorically informed by Sameer Wankhede in the presence of several other officers, that since he was associated with Dharma Productions, they would let him off if he implicated either Karan Johar, Somel Mishra, Rakhi, Apoorva, Neeraj or Rahil falsely alleging that they consumed drugs. Kshitij refused to comply with this despite the pressure being mounted on him as he did not know any of these people personally and did not wish to falsely implicate anyone,” added the statement.
Satish Maneshinde dragging Karan Johar's name into the case comes at a time where the NCB is yet to do so, in both angles it is probing - the probe linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and the complaint against Karan Johar's 2019 party registered by Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
The NCB, which began the probe after a drugs angle came to light in connection with Rajput's alleged suicide, has now widened its investigation and called film celebrities for questioning.
Karan Johar has quashed all claims and allegations that narcotics were consumed at one of the parties organised at the filmmaker's home, calling the allegations false and baseless. Karan Johar had also said that he doesn't know Kshitij and Anubhav who have been grilled by NCB personally, and is not responsible for what they do in their spare time.
Republic TV had earlier questioned Karan Johar while he was entering Goa airport before flying to Mumbai on Sunday. He remained silent.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday recorded statements of actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan. NCB sources said that no clean chit has been given to any of the celebrities who were interrogated by the agency on September 26. According to top sources in the NCB, in a late-night meeting, Asthana has given a time-frame of six months to file a chargesheet in the case. Sources said that DG Asthana has given a green signal to the NCB teams to go for a crackdown on the drug nexus.
Updated 14:52 IST, September 28th 2020