Vivek Oberoi's brother-in-law Aditya Alva named in Karnataka drugs case
Aditya Alva, who is the brother-in-law of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, has been named among the 12 accused in the Karnataka drugs case. Aditya is the son of former state minister, late Jeevaraj Alva. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru on Friday filed an FIR against Kannada film actor Ragini Dwivedi and 11 others for their alleged links with an international drug racket.
FIR filed at Cottonpet Police station
"We have filed a suo motu FIR (First Information Report) at the Cottonpet Police station in the city against Ragini and others for their drug links in the Kannada film industry," city Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil told reporters.
Accused booked under NDPS Act and the IPC
In the FIR filed by ACP KC Gautham, 12 accused including actor Ragini Dwivedi, Aditya Alva, party planner Viren Khanna, Shivaprakash, Prashanth Ranka, Vaibhav Jain, Loum Pepper, Prashanth Raju, Ashwin, Abhiswami, Rahul Thonshe and Vinay have been named. They have all been booked under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Meanwhile, Dwivedi and a few others have been arrested
On Thursday, Ravi Shankar, an official at State Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Jayanagar involved in peddling of drugs, was arrested by CCB officials. The next day, Ragini Dwivedi, real estate agent Rahul Shetty, and party planner Viren Khanna were also arrested in connection with the case. Drug peddler Loum Pepper Samba, a foreign national, has also been arrested for supplying drugs to celebrities.
Who is Ragini Dwivedi?
Ragini, whose family hails from Haryana's Rewari, was born in Bengaluru. She made her movie debut in 2009 with Veera Madakari. She has also featured in movies such as Kempegowda, Shiva, Bangari, Ragini IPS, Namaste Madam, among others.
The scandal surfaced after NCB conducted raids last month
The current drug scandal surfaced after Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) conducted raids at the residences of three drug peddlers in Bengaluru last month. The three persons, including former television actor Anikha D, a drug peddler named Ravindra and another man, Anoop Mohammed have since been arrested. Hundreds of MDMA pills were also seized. Their arrests indicated toward drug abuse in the Kannada film industry.
On Friday, CCB arrested three more drug peddlers
On Friday, CCB sleuths searched a house in the city's KR Puram area and arrested three drug peddlers from there- A Subramani (26), Vidhus (31) and Shejin (21). They also seized banned drugs worth Rs. 44 lakh from the property.
Will find source of this drug menace, Karnataka minister says
Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that officials have been instructed to extend their action against drug supply in the state to tier-2 and tier-3 cities. "Investigation is going on regarding the drug case and it is progressing at a fast pace and new dimensions are emerging. We have decided to find out the source of this drug menace," the minister added.
