NCB's crackdown on 'Bollywood drug citadel' so far

Bollywood celebrities, their relatives, and support staff have been on NCB's radar for quite some time. The wider drug nexus in the tinsel town emerged during the investigation into the drug case linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

Hyderabad: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted a drugs party onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and arrested Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and seven others on Sunday. Bollywood celebrities, their relatives, and support staff have been on the agency's radar for quite some time. To be precise, 'the drug citadel in the tinsel town' emerged during the investigation into the drug case linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Here are a few Bollywood celebrities who were arrested or interrogated in connection with drug cases over the past one year:

September 8, 2020:Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and others were arrested under several relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in connection with a drug case emerging out of the investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Rhea walked out on bail from Mumbai's Byculla jail on October 7 while Showik was granted bail on December 2 last year.

September 2020: Actors Deepika Padukone,Sara Ali Khan,and Shraddha Kapoorwere questioned by the agency on the basis of the chats found in the phones of actor Rhea Chakraborty and Sushant Singh Rajput’s talent manager Jaya Saha, an employee of Kwan talent management company. Karishma Prakash, former manager of Deepika Padukone, was also questioned in this connection. Fearing arrest in the drug-related probe, Prakash filed an anticipatory bail application before the NDPS court. In August this year, the court denied pre-arrest bail to Prakash saying "the prosecution was 'justified' in invoking stringent provisions of the NDPS Act pertaining to the illicit trafficking of drugs against her".

November 2020: Comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa were arrested by the NCB in a case related to the seizure of ganja from their residence. The agency had raided the production office and house of Bharti and seized 86.5 grams of ganja (cannabis) from their place. They were remanded to judicial custody but were later granted bail.

December 2020: The NCB issued a notice to Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar over a viral video allegedly showing drugs being consumed at a party at his house. Johar, through his lawyer, submitted his statement before the agency that no narcotics substances were consumed at his party. In his submission, Karan Johar stated that the allegations were completely baseless and false.

April 2021: The NCB had conducted a raid at the residence of TV actorAjaz Khan in Mumbai's Lokhandwala and seized drugs. He was arrested for the same after eight hours of interrogation.

August 27, 2021:NCB arrested actor Gaurav Dixit after drugs were allegedly recovered from his residence in a raid. He was later granted bail by a Mumbai court on a surety of Rs 50,000 and on the condition that he can't leave the city without the court's permission. The Court has also directed him to surrender his passport to the investigating officer.

August 29, 2021:NCB arrested actor Armaan Kohli in connection with a drugs case after questioning him at its office in south Mumbai for a few hours following the recovery of cocaine at his residence in Juhu.

Sept 25, 2021:Actor Arjun Rampal's girlfriend Gabriella Demetriades' brother Agisilaos Demetriades was arrested in an alleged drugs case. NCB reportedly said in a statement that Agisilaos was arrested for illicit possession of the recovered drug.

October 3, 2021: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aaryan Khan and seven others were arrested by NCB after it raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and busted a drugs party.

Read: 'Result of painstaking investigation,' says NCB chief after 'rave party' crackdown