Drugs case: actor Navdeep to appear before ED on Monday

The 2017 narcotic drugs and money laundering case, now being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, continues to shake the Telugu film industry.

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Telugu actor and Rana Daggubati’s ‘best buddy’ Navdeep Pallapolu will appear before the ED for questioning on Monday, September 13, 2021, after he was summoned as part of the ongoing money laundering probe in connection with a high-end drugs racket busted by Telangana’s Prohibition and Excise sleuths. The central agency also asked the general manager of F Club, which was once owned by Navdeep, to appear for questioning.

So far, the central agency has grilled six people, including Rana, Rakul Preet Singh, Ravi Teja, filmmaker Puri Jagannadh and his business partner and actor Charmme Kaur, since August 31.

Sources in the agency shared that they are still scrutinising the financial transactions of the summoned director, actors and their staff and so far, no significant progress had been made in the case. “A case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was booked, and we are questioning Tollywood personalities only about the suspicious transactions,” an officer said.

“For now, we are not focusing on the use of drugs. The case is only related to money laundering,” he said.

He said that actor Mumaith Khan was summoned on September 15, while Tanish, Nandu and Tarun will appear before the ED on September 17, 20 and 22, respectively.

On September 8, while questioning Rana, the ED authorities brought in Kelvin Mascarenhas, a musician and prime accused in the drugs racket. Kelvin and his gang were peddling narcotic drugs such as LSD and MDMA which has a clientele of over 1,000 customers, including students of high-end schools and colleges in the city, Tollywood personalities and employees of several multi-national companies here.

In 2017 too, after the racket was busted, which further followed the arrest of several people, including an American, a South African and a Netherlands national, several Tollywood celebrities were questioned by Excise department sleuths.