The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) yesterday arrested popular comedian Bharti Singh for alleged possession and consumption of banned drugs, after her home and office were raided, a top official said.
“We have arrested Bharti Singh after recovering a little over 86gm of marijuana from her house. Her husband Harsh Limbachiya is currently being interrogated by NCB,” the federal agency’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede told IANS.
The move comes after some alleged drug peddlers were arrested as part of an investigation yesterday and they revealed the names of Bharti and Harsh, the NCB said.
The NCB raided a location in Khar-Danda, a coastal area in Khar suburb, and nabbed a 21-year drug trafficker from whom commercial quantities of drugs were seized, Wankhede said.
Armed with this information, the NCB raided other locations, including the home and offices of the Bharti-Harsh couple in suburban Andheri west’s fashionable Lokhandwala Complex and Versova, from where 86.50gm of marijuana was seized.
Thereafter, both actors were detained for a short while and formally summoned for further investigations to the NCB office where they reached there in separate vehicles.
On reaching the NCB offices, an apparently unruffled Bharti Singh told reporters that they had been “called for some questioning”.
However, after a sustained interrogation of nearly five hours, Bharti was placed under arrest, while Harsh was still being grilled by the officers.
Both Bharti and Harsh are well-known comedians, television personalities producing or hosting programmes, besides appearing in reality shows like Khatron Ka Khiladi, Kapil Sharma Show and other TV serials.
The latest action is part of ongoing investigations into Bollywood-drugs mafia nexus which the NCB is trying to unravel since the past three months.
The NCB has so far arrested over two dozen suspects including Bollywood actress Rhea Chakbraborty, now on bail, her brother Showik, still in jail, and other film industry related persons, drug financiers, suppliers or peddlers, including some foreigners.
As the NCB claims to have unearthed a close link between drugs mafia and the glamour industry, it has questioned several prominent film personalities, amid speculation that several big names may be on its dreaded ‘hit-list’.
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