July 24, 2017
A Special Investigation Team (SIT)
probing the Hyderabad drug racket quizzed Telugu actor Navdeep on
Monday.
SIT officials began questioning the actor at Abkari Bhavan, the office
of Prohibition and Excise Department of Telangana, here around 10 a.m.
and it was continuing after 1 p.m., officials said.
Navdeep is the fifth southern filmdom celebrity being questioned by the
authorities for alleged links with drug peddlers arrested in the case.
The young actor, one of the 12 celebrities summoned by the SIT for
questioning, has already denied taking drugs or having any links with
the peddlers.
"It is usual to sensationalise news as soon as there are film people
involved, me being involved in events and working with some wrong event
managers I can understand why this happened," Navdeep had tweeted on
July 14.
"It's a matter of time before this is sorted... requesting media and
people to have patience," he added.
Navdeep was being quizzed about his links with Zeeshan Ali Khan alias
Jack, one of the accused arrested in the case. The actor admitted that
he knew Khan as an event manager but denied involvement in any illegal
activity.
The investigating officials on Saturday grilled actor Tarun. They had
quizzed actor Subbaraju on Friday. Known for his negative roles in many
films, Subbaraju had reportedly provided leads to the SIT for further
investigations.
The SIT earlier questioned director Puri Jagannadh and cinematographer
Shyam K. Naidu.
The celebrities were summoned for questioning as their contact numbers
were found in the call data of Calvin Mascrenhas, the kingpin of the
racket.
Actors Ravi Teja and Nandu, actresses Charmee Kaur, Mumaith Khan and
art director Chinna are among the other celebrities who will be
questioned this week.
The enforcement wing of the department has so far arrested 13 accused,
including US citizen Dundu Anish -- an aerospace engineer who had
earlier worked with the NASA, and seven B.Tech graduates, most of whom
were working for multi-national companies.