In Sandalwood Drug Case Sanjjanaa Galrani, Ragini Dwivedi Test Positive: Report

Sandalwood drugs case: The Bengaluru police, probing the alleged drug abuse in the Kannada film industry, on Tuesday said the forensic report has confirmed that actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjana Galrani consumed drugs.

Popular Kannada film actors Galrani, Dwivedi, party organiser Viren Khanna, former minister Jeevaraj Alva's son Aditya Alva were among those arrested in connection with the drug case last year.

Ten months into the investigation, the actors, who are out on bail, are now back in the spotlight as according to the sources the hair samples of the accused sent to the forensic laboratory for tests have reportedly come positive for drug consumption.

Reports also claim that the urine and blood samples tests were not conclusive, so their hair follicles were collected and sent for tests in Hyderabad in October 2020 as drug traces can be found in hair for up to one year, officials said.

The whole drug scandal broke last year. Besides the well-known personalities from the Kannada film industry, a few African nationals were also arrested. The investigation also revealed that a few police officers were leaking information to the accused and they were subsequently suspended during that time.

Earlier in March 2021, the CCB had filed a charge sheet against 25 persons, including Galrani and Dwivedi, through jurisdictional Cottonpet police. The 25 accused include 15 on bail, five in jail and five absconders. According to police, the accused were actively involved in purchasing, consuming and selling narcotic substances. They also furnished the bank account details of the accused as evidence. The Crime Branch swung into action after the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Mohammed Anoop, Rijesh Ravindran and Anikha Dinesh in August 2020 for allegedly possessing drugs. The NCB revealed that they were reportedly supplying drugs to people in the Kannada film industry. Read more here.

With the new set of evidence, the Central Crime Branch may summon the duo again. The agency officers claim that this new information is very important since it gives the police a way forward to initiate an investigation into the drug case afresh.

Feature Image Credit: NDTV