Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash, who had been questioned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in October along with the actress, showed up on Wednesday at the agency's Mumbai office. She had been asked "to join the investigation" last week when the officials raided her Versova residence and found drugs. The raid was carried out in Prakash’s absence, who had been "untraceable" for a week, until now.
"She did not appear," said a senior official from the investigating team when Prakash failed to show up. As per multiple reports, she was summoned today to record a statement. On November 3, a Mumbai court had asked Prakash to appear before the NCB without being arrested, assuring that no "coercive action" will be taken against her till November 7. She had applied for anticipatory bail, following which the court gave her interim relief till Saturday.
On 27 October, around 1.7 grams of charas and at least two bottles of cannabis (CBD) oil seized from her house, according to an Indian Express report. But her lawyer claimed that Prakash had never lived there. She was summoned today in connection with the ongoing drug case related to the death of 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
KWAN statement
Meanwhile, Prakash also resigned from KWAN Talent Agency where she was employed and served as Deepika Padukone's manager. Vijay Subramaniam, co-founder and CEO of KWAN released an official statement confirming her departure from the company. The statement read, "Karishma Prakash tendered her resignation on 21 October with immediate effect and it was accepted. She now has nothing to do with KWAN or with any of the artistes that the agency represent, including Deepika Padukone. The ongoing investigations are on Karishma Prakash as an individual".
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On the earlier occasion, in September, Prakash had joined Deepika Padukone at the NCB SIT headquarters where a total of six people had been summoned – among them were Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor. According to sources, after five hours Padukone had alleged that words like “maal” and “hash” used in the so-called “drug chats” from 2017 were codes for cigarettes. Multiple reports claim that Prakash allegedly “catered to the celebrities.”
According to an earlier TOI report, both Padukone and her manager had admitted to these WhatsApp chats about procuring drugs. In the chats, a person denoted as ‘D’, has been allegedly identified to be Padmaavat actress Deepika Padukone, Times Now had reported. It was also clear from the chats that ‘D’ reportedly asked for “maal” and “hash” from another persona called ‘K’, who is allegedly Karishma Prakash, her manager.
Also Read: Is Deepika Padukone paying for her courage and ability to speak up?
According to the NCB, the drug-probe had exposed a new angle in connection with Rajput’s alleged suicide. The investigation revealed names of A-list celebrities and they have been asked to “join the probe”. However many of them, including Karan Johar, were cleared of all accusations after investigations.
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