Sandalwood drug case: Aditya Alva hiding in California, suspect officials

Aditya Alva, who is the brother-in-law of Vivek Oberoi, is absconding and his residence was raided by CCB in the alleged drug nexus. CCB sleuths are suspecting that Aditya Alva is hiding in California.

Bengaluru: Aditya Alva, son of former Karnataka minister late Jeevaraj Alva, whose house was raided by Central Crime Branch (CCB) in alleged connection with Sandalwood drug case is still at large. Alva, who is also the of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, came under the radar of NCB in the alleged drug nexus after actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjana Galrani were taken into the police custody. Sleuths are suspecting that Aditya Alva is hiding in California.

The search comes a day after Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi who was arrested last week was remanded to judicial custody till September 28 in the drugs case by a court in Bengaluru. Ragini was shifted to Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in the city.

Sources have revealed that officials have found certain shreds of evidence that he used to organise rave parties at his residence 'House of Lives'.

"As soon as we arranged a search warrant from the court, searches were carried out at Alva's house. But it seems that he got a hunch and fled away to Mumbai. A team of police officials are also conducting searches in Mumbai to search for him," an official said.

According to information, raids have been conducted at resorts owned by Aditya where he used to allegedly organise weekend parties. Many sandalwood actors have come under the scanner of NCB as they used to attend these high profile parties. The officials got a tip-off that late night rave parties were organised at his residence amid lockdown.

READ: Sandalwood Drug Case: CCB raids Vivek Oberoi's brother-in-law Aditya Alva's house

It may be recalled that an FIR in connection with drug cartel was filed 12 days back but CCB has not been able to trace Aditya Alva. It has been alleged that Alva used to supply drugs to rave parties through his sources.

Cops believe that not having cancelled the VISA and passport gave an easy escape to Alva and he managed to escape from Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, CCB has also summoned actors Diganth Manchale and Aindrita Rai for questioning in connection with the drug probe.

Recently, filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh, while giving his statement to the CCB on the Kannada film industry drug scandal, claimed that at least 15 people in the industry were involved in the drug trade.