Kshitij Prasad was called up the NCB officials on Thursday.
Mumbai/ New Delhi:
Film producer Kshitij Prasad, who was arrested last week by the Narcotic Control Bureau in a widening drugs probe linked to Sushant Singh Rajput death, was “harassed and blackmailed” by the investigators, his lawyer Satish Maneshinde told the Bombay High Court on Sunday. Mr Prasad was “forced to falsely implicate” filmmaker Karan Johar and his other top executives, the lawyer underlined, adding that Mr Prasad said: “I was told I will be let off if I implicate” the popular filmmaker and owner of Dharma Productions.
Last week, Karan Johar had denied claims that Kshitij Prasad was associated with his firm. Mr Prasad joined Dharmatic Entertainment, a company linked to Dharma Productions, in November 2019 as one of the executive producers on contract basis for a project which eventually did not materialise, Mr Johar had said.
On Sunday, Satish Maneshinde told the high court: “Kshitij Prasad was produced today (Sunday) for remand before the Ld Addl Chief Metropolitan Magistrate through video conference. Before the proceedings began I informed the Magistrate that Kshitij was harassed and blackmailed to make a statement apart from third degree and ill treatment.”
Kshitij Prasad was called up by the NCB officials on Thursday (September 24), who wanted to search his Mumbai home. He returned to Mumbai the next day. The NCB team “found nothing in the house apart from the end bit of a stale and dry cigarette butt in the balcony”, and the team “began insisting it was a ganja joint”. “Upon his wife’s insistence , the word ‘believed’ to be a ganja joint was inserted in the panchnama (probe record),” his lawyer said.
He was taken to the probe agency’s office with two other friends on Friday; he was harassed and forced to implicate Karan Johar, Mr Maneshinde stressed.
