Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash had missed summons earlier (File)
Mumbai:
Actor Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash has been given time by a court in Mumbai to appear before the Narcotics Control Bureau without being arrested. Ms Prakash had applied for anticipatory bail, after which the special court gave her interim relief till November 7.
Ms Prakash will have to appear before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCD) for questioning, but she can’t be arrested till November 7. Ms Prakash had missed summons from the anti-drugs agency and the NCB had said she was untraceable.
The NCB had conducted searches at a property linked to her and issued summons to her, after which officials had seized some material from her home.
The NCB is investigating a drugs case linked to the film industry and has questioned several actors like Ms Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Rakulpreet Singh and Shraddha Kapoor. The probe started after the Enforcement Directorate handed over alleged “drug chats” that the agency said was recovered from actor Rhea Chakraborty’s phone, who had also been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate.
Ms Chakraborty was named in a complaint filed in Patna by actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s parents, who alleged her actions led to the actor’s death.
The case was eventually handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after a tussle over jurisdiction between the Mumbai Police and the Patna Police. The ED, which had proved the money laundering angle, has not found any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Ms Chakraborty so far.
The actor was, however, arrested by the NCB for allegedly procuring drugs for Mr Rajput.
The Bombay High Court granted bail to Ms Chakraborty and said there was no evidence to suggest that she was part of a drugs syndicate like the probe agency had alleged while arresting her.
Ms Prakash’s name came up in some WhatsApp chats, following which she was questioned in September. At that time, Ms Padukone was also questioned after her name allegedly came up in some WhatsApp group linked to the drugs case and where both she and her manager were members.
