Judicial custody of Dharma Productions' ex-associate extended in drugs case
Film executive Kshitij Ravi Prasad, a former associate of filmmaker Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, has been sent to judicial custody till October 6 by a special court in Mumbai. He was last month arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death in June. Here are more details on this.
Prasad was arrested on September 26
Following hours of questioning and searches at his home, Prasad was arrested on September 26 by the central anti-drugs agency. He was subsequently sentenced to judicial custody for seven days until October 3. On Saturday, he was produced before a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) court, and the NCB sought an extension of his custody for further investigation.
Prasad accused of procuring drugs from peddlers
Prasad has been accused of procuring banned drugs such as marijuana and being in touch with a number of alleged drug peddlers. He had admitted to taking weed from arrested alleged drug peddlers Ankush Arneja and Karamjeet Singh, NCB told the court.
Forced to falsely implicate Ranbir Kapoor, KJo: Prasad
Meanwhile, in his statement before the court, Prasad alleged he was forced by the NCB to "falsely implicate" actors Ranbir Kapoor, Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal in the ongoing drugs case. Earlier, following his arrest, he had claimed he was being "framed" and added he had been "harassed and blackmailed" by NCB officials to implicate Karan Johar. The agency has denied all these allegations.
Karan said he did not personally know Prasad
Karan, however, has distanced himself from this case. He said the allegations that he had hosted a "drug party" were "baseless and false." The filmmaker also said he did not personally know Prasad and Anubhav Chopra, another former associate of Dharama Productions who was questioned by NCB. "Neither l, nor Dharma Productions can be made responsible for what people do in their personal lives."
NCB probing drugs angle in Sushant Rajput's death
The NCB had launched a probe in this case after another agency investigating Sushant's death found WhatsApp messages that hinted at drug use. Sushant was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai on June 14. He died by suicide and had been suffering from depression, cops had said. His family, however, accused his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of harassing him and driving him to suicide.
Rhea, her brother were arrested last month
Last month, Rhea was arrested by the NCB. Her brother Showik, two employees of Sushant and a number of alleged drug peddlers have also been held in this case. Rhea and Showik have been accused of organizing drugs for the late actor. Both of them are currently imprisoned. On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court reserved its order on bail petitions filed by them.
CBI and ED are also probing the matter
In fact, three top Bollywood actresses, viz. Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan were questioned last week. Apart from the NCB, the CBI is probing the circumstances that led to Sushant's death, while the Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering. On a related note, a team of doctors from Delhi's AIIMS has ruled out possibility of murder in the case.
