NCB denies ill-treating former Dharmatic producer Kshitij Ravi Prasad in custody

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday denied ill-treating arrested drugs case accused Kshitij Ravi Prasad , a former Dharmatic Entertainment executive producer, in its custody. The drug law enforcement agency termed the allegations in this regard as “mischievous and completely untrue”. In a press release, the NCB said it has come across a news item, purportedly quoting Satish Maneshinde, the advocate for Prasad, about the accused being “ill-treated” in its custody. Prasad was arrested by the NCB on Saturday after questioning in a drugs case linked to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. On Sunday, a city court remanded Prasad, a former executive producer at Dharmatic Entertainment (a sister concern of filmmaker Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions), in the NCB’s custody till 3 October. The news item alleged humiliation and mistreatment of Prasad at the hands of NCB officers. “It is very unambiguously stated here that the news item in circulation is mischievous and completely untrue. The NCB arrested Prasad as some incriminating evidence were recovered from him. “When the involvement of Prasad in offences under the NDPS Act was revealed, he was placed under arrest after following due process of law. His lawyer and his family (mother) were informed as per procedure,” the release said. He was also allowed to meet his wife and father-in-law at the NCB office in south Mumbai, the central agency said. “As Prasad was not cooperating with the investigation, this fact was brought to the notice of the court with a request to grant NCB custody on Sunday when he was produced for remand after a medical check-up. He was sent to the NCB custody till 3 October,” the release said. The court has observed in its order on Sunday that no physical ill-treatment has been given to the accused, it said, and quoted from the judge’s observation. “From the submission of the accused, it reveals that, no physical ill-treatment (was) given to him during the course of his custody with the NCB authority. Furthermore, he has no complaint about the physical ill-treatment,” the NCB release said, quoting from the court observation. The NCB reiterates that the allegations circulating in the news item are baseless and devoid of any truth, the release said. Prasad’s name had cropped up during the NCB’s wider probe into the alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus. The probe agency had told the court on Sunday that Prasad, in his statement, said he had procured drugs from co- accused Karamjeet Singh Anand and his associates.