Published 20:54 IST, September 18th 2020
Sandalwood drug racket: CCB hunts for actor Aditya Alva - absconding since Sept 4
After raiding Kannada actor Aditya Alva's house in connection to the Sandalwood drug racket, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has intensified its search for him
Advertisement
After raiding Kannada actor Aditya Alva's house in connection to the Sandalwood drug racket, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has intensified its search for the actor, as per reports. Alva, who is the son of ex-JD(S) minister late Jeevaraj Alva and brother-in-law of actor Vivek Oberoi, is one of the prime accused in the drug case. He has been absconding since September 4, as per sources.
CCB hunts for Aditya Alva
Apart from Alva, Shivaprakash Chuppi, and Sheik Faazil - the prime accused in the case are reportedly absconding. As of date, 12 people have been arrested including actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani. Both actors are in judicial custody.
On Thursday, three more drug peddlers - Azam Pasha(25) along with two associates - Masthan Vali (25) and Mohammed Abbas (27) were arrested and 90 kg worth marijuana - worth Rs 50 lakh were seized by CCB, as per reports. Prior to these arrests, an African national identified as Benald Udenna, who allegedly supplied drugs to rave parties in Bengaluru was also arrested. Other arrests in connection with the drug bust include - Kannada actors Ravishankar, Rahul, Niyaz, and Loum Pepper Samba and three drug peddlers - Mohammed Anoop, Anikha D and R Ravindran.
Political link to drug nexus
The political angle to the drug racket came to light when CPI(M) state secretary's son - Kannada actor Bineesh Kodiyeri was named by one of the arrested accused - a drug peddler - Mohammed Anoop. He claimed that Bineesh and another friend helped him financially in opening the 'Hyaat restaurant' in Bengaluru in 2018. Reports state that Bineesh has close ties with Rijesh Raveendran, one of the other accused arrested in the case.
Similarly, sources reported that actress Sanjjana Galrani and Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan has allegedly attended an event in Colombo and visited a casino - while he was in JD (S). Khan claimed that when he was in JD(S), HD Revanna and 26 other MLAs had allegedly visited Colombo's casinos in 2014. Ex-CM Kumaraswamy too clarified that he had accompanied Khan and the MLAs to Colombo where they were allegedly seen at a gambling event with Galrani and Vivek Oberoi.
What is the Sandalwood drug racket?
The drug racket prevalent in the Kannada film industry - 'Sandalwood' came to light when deceased journalist Gauri Lankesh's brother - Indrajit Lankesh revealed the involvement of certain actors in the drug menace. He named two actresses who were allegedly not being interrogated due to the supposed political connection. Police sources claim that drugs being supplied through the ‘dark net’ was detected while raiding the places belonging to a few drug peddlers. NCB conducted raids in the city and seized drugs like LSD, MDM, ecstasy, cannabis worth Rs 1.25 crores which were being supplied to local youths.
20:54 IST, September 18th 2020