The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday raided Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash's Versova residence and found drugs. Around 1.7 grams of charas and at least two bottles of cannabis (CBD) oil were recovered from her house by the NCB officials. The raid was carried out in Prakash's absence, whose whereabouts are not known to NCB.
“Prakash’s name cropped up during the questioning of one of the paddlers arrested by us in the case in which we are looking to bust drug networks around Bollywood, Based on the information, we raided her residence today. We found 1.7 grams of charas and at least two bottles of CBD oil,” said an NCB official, according to an Indian Express report.
Prakash and Deepika Padukone were earlier summoned for questioning by the NCB in connection with the ongoing drug case related to the death of 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput. According to the latest report by ANI, while Padukone has resumed shooting for her upcoming projects, the NCB has once again summoned her manager Prakash for interrogation.
The official said at the time of the raid, Prakash was nowhere to be found. “We have called her for questioning tomorrow to NCB, however, her phone has been switched off and we do not know where she is,” an official said.
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 has exposed a new angle in connection with Rajput’s alleged suicide. The investigation has revealed names of A-list celebrities and they have been asked to “join the probe”. So far, a total of 24 persons have been arrested in the case including actor Arjun Rampal's brother-in-law, Rajput's cook and housekeeper, Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik, in addition to some drug peddlers.
Feature Image Credit: Dainik Bhaskar
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