NCB gets 6 months to file chargesheet in Bollywood drug crackdown; no clean chit to celebs

As the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) continues its investigation in the drugs angle linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death and an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus at breakneck speed, NCB DG Rakesh Asthana flew from Delhi to Mumbai on Sunday. 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.

No clean chit to any celebs interrogated so far: NCB sources

DG Rakesh Asthana held a meeting with several officers including Sameer Wankhede and Deputy Director KPS Malhotra and was briefed on the two drug cases, the central anti-drug agency had registered last month. According to the sources, there was a discussion about Karan Johar's 2019 party video was well. Also, NCB sources said that no clean chit has been given to any of the celebrities who were interrogated by the agency on September 26. Moreover, 20 high profile drug peddlers are under the lens of the NCB, sources said. 

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday recorded statements of actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the drugs probe linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death and an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus. Top sources had informed Republic Media Network that NCB teams led by Deputy Director KPS Malhotra, Sameer Wankhede and Ashok Jain will now prepare a detailed report which will include every aspect of the investigation into the alleged drug network in Mumbai. Sources have told Republic that the NCB team is of the opinion that the actors were 'fully prepared for the questioning'.

Kshitij Prasad remanded in NCB custody till Oct 3

While Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor were questioned at the NCB's zonal office at Ballard Estate, Padukone was questioned at a guest house in Colaba. Shraddha Kapoor reached the NCB office around 12 pm and left after six hours, while Sara Ali Khan reached around 1 pm and both left at around 6.10 pm.

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Meanwhile, 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 the NCB's custody till October 3 following his arrest in a drugs case linked to SSR's death. Prasad had joined Dharmatic Entertainment (a sister concern of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions) in November 2019 as one of the executive producers on a contract basis for a project, which eventually did not materialise, Johar said in a statement on Friday. Prasad was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday after questioning.

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