‘Ragini IPS’ Kannada Actress, two others arrested in drugs scandal
BANGALURU : The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru, which is probing the drug menace in the Kannada film industry, on Friday arrested film actress Ragini Dwivedi along with two more persons, police said.
“Ragini Dwivedi has been arrested and taken into custody,” Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said in a statement. Besides, the actress, two people named Rahul and Viren Khanna were arrested, it said. Police had arrested another person,K Ravishankar on Thursday.
Earlier, the police conducted a raid at the residence of the popular Kannada actress. The officials reportedly seized Ragini’s phone and laptop. She was initially interrogated at her home but later taken to CCB office for further inquiry.
On September 2 (Wednesday), the CCB officials summoned Kannada film industry’s established actress Ragini Dwivedi and she was called for the questioning. However, she did not appear before the CCB on Thursday, expressing her inability to com due to very little time in hand.
But she sent her lawyer on her behalf and later tweeted about it, promising to extend all the support of the police in this case. Later, in the evening she was arrested and taken into custody, the sources added.
According to police, Viren Khanna is a big catch.”He (Khanna) is the main person who organises big parties where drugs are consumed.He was in Delhi and two CCB police inspectors had gone to Delhi and arrested him,” Patil said. He has been taken into police custody for four days, he added.
Ravi also known as K Ravishankar, a clerk in the Road Transport Office, was arrested on Thursday while Rahul, a realtor, was taken into custody today, Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant said.
Both of them used to go to high-end parties frequently and used to obtain drugs from foreign nationals, he said,adding that the two were peddlers and consumers.The actress was in close contact with Ravi, the police chief claimed.
The CCB had raided Ragini Dwivedi’s residence early morning today after obtaining a search warrant from a court, a police officer said. The CCB had served a notice to the actress on Wednesday, asking her to depose before them on Thursday, but she sent a team of lawyers seeking time till Monday. The police rejected her plea and directed her to appear before them on Friday.
The CCB intensified its investigation into a drugs haul in Bengaluru after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested three persons from the city, who were allegedly supplying drugs to singers and actors in the Kannada film industry, also known as “Sandalwood”.
Filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh had given his statement to the CCB about drug abuse in Sandalwood. He had also claimed that at least 15 people in the industry were involved in the drugs trade.
Dwivedi, whose family hails from Haryana’s Rewari, was born in Bengaluru. She made her Sandalwood debut in the movie “Veera Madakari” in 2009. She shot to fame for her role in ‘Kempe Gowda’, ‘Ragini IPS’, ‘Bangari’ and ‘Shiva’.
The sandalwood industry drug scandal came to the limelight after Kannada filmmaker and late journalist Gauri Lankesh’s brother, Indrajit Lankesh made startling claims of knowing many secrets of the connection between drugs and Kannada film celebs.
Soon after Indrajit Lankesh’s statement, the Bengaluru police came into action and the Central Crime Branch (CCB) wing of Bengaluru interrogated him for around 2 hours. The CCB officials stated that ‘Indrajit Lankesh mentioned some old incidents as well as revealed names of some people related to the industry.
Although he has not yet presented any evidence, in this case, we are giving him time to present the evidence. The CCB will now investigate this matter in a legal manner.”
Later speaking to the media, Lankesh said that he has given 15 names to the CCB which are directly or indirectly related to the drug scandal. Meanwhile, CCB has also stepped up its investigation in the case.
(With Agency Inputs ).
