Bengaluru: Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi’s residence is being searched by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Karnataka Police in connection with a drug racket in the Kannada film industry that was recently busted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Police sources told ThePrint that the raid began at 6 am Friday.
On 21 August, the NCB had busted a major drug racket and arrested three men who were allegedly supplying illegal drugs to singers, actors and other prominent personalities from the film industry, which is also known as ‘Sandalwood’.
The police then began carrying out searches at the residence of all those who were named by the three accused.
According to police sources, Crime Branch officials had served a notice asking Dwivedi to depose before them Thursday but, instead, she sent a team of lawyers seeking time until 7 September.
The actor had also taken to social media to say that she would not be able to appear before the police, which had further irked the investigating officers.
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Dwivedi changed phone number after notice: Police
A search warrant was obtained by the police from a Bengaluru court after Dwivedi’s phone was found unreachable, police sources noted.
Dwivedi is believed to have changed her number soon after she received the notice from the CCB which led to this raid, a senior police official, who wished to remain anonymous, told ThePrint.
The Crime Branch officials also confirmed the arrest of one Ravi who had close connections with people in ‘Sandalwood’ and allegedly supplied drugs to many people in the industry.
On 2 September, filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh had also claimed that he was aware of the drug racket in the industry and was asked to give his statement to police.
“At least 15 renowned personalities in the Kannada film industry are involved in this drug ring,” Lankesh had claimed.
However, according to the police, the filmmaker was unable to provide any corroborative evidence to support his claim.
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