With the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on the job to unravel the Bollywood drug cartel, persons linked to the case are blowing the lid off one fact or the other. The latest in the series is Deepika Padukone.
Deepika Padukone, who was questioned for nearly six hours by NCB’s Special Investigation Team at the Evelyn Guest House in Colaba, Mumbai on Saturday, said that she has never tried drugs.
The actress has accepted the “chats” accessed by the agency where she was discussing drugs with her manager Karishma Prakash belonging to her but denied consuming any narcotic substance. Meanwhile, the agency has seized her cell phone.
According to sources, Deepika Padukone cried thrice during her questioning with the agency. Deepika broke down during her probe, the actress was asked not to play the “emotional card” by the NCB officials. Now the agency has started the investigation of the credit card used by the actress during the last three years.
Along with Deepika, the phones of her manager Karishma, and actresses Rakul Preet Singh, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan have also been seized by the NCB under the Indian Evidence Act.
The development came after the questioning of Deepika and Karishma on Saturday, and Rakul and Khambatta on Friday for several hours. Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor were also questioned separately for four to five hours by NCB on Saturday.
The NCB has also seized the phones of Sushant Singh Rajput’s talent manager Jaya Saha, fashion designer Simone Khambatta. The phones have been sent for forensic examination in this case as certain recovered chat messages alleged about buying and selling of contraband.
It should also be noted that none of these actors have been named as accused in any drug probe case, and are only being questioned.
The chat discussing drugs was retrieved from talent manager Jaya Saha’s phone between her and Karishma Prakash, Padukone’s manager and an employee of Kwan talent management company and one “D”. Kwan talent management company CEO Dhruv Chitgopekar, has also been questioned by NCB and the other agencies in this matter.
With Inputs from agency