NCB seizes contraband from residence of Deepika Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash, summons her for questioning

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on 27 October raided a residence of Karishma Prakash, the manager of Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, here and seized a small quantity of hashish, an official said. The NCB, which is probing alleged nexus between drug peddlers and Bollywood celebrities which came to light after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide, has summoned Prakash on Wednesday to “join the probe”, he said. Prakash was questioned by the NCB last month. Hashish weighing 1.8 grams was recovered during a search at Prakash’s house in the Versova area earlier in the day, the NCB official said. The search was conducted on a specific tip-off, he said. Prakash’s name cropped up in the interrogation of one of the arrested drug peddlers, said the official. While NCB officials claimed that the Versova apartment was Prakash’s second residence where she used to stay, her lawyer denied that she stayed there. Statements of Deepika and fellow actors Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Rakul Preet Singh, among others, were also recorded by the NCB last month. The Central agency has so far arrested 23 persons as part of its investigation in the drug case linked to Rajput’s death. His girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty   is out on bail now. She has requested the Bombay High Court to dismiss a petition filed by Rajput’s two sisters to quash the FIR lodged against them for forging and procuring fake medical prescriptions for their brother. Chakraborty is accused of abetting the suicide of Rajput. The actress, who is the complainant in the case against Rajput’s sisters Priyanka Singh and Meetu Singh, filed an affidavit in the HC on Tuesday opposing their plea and said the allegations against them are serious. Chakraborty also said since the probe in the case against Rajput’s sisters is at a nascent stage, time needs to be given to the investigating agency. Rajput (34) died by suicide in his Bandra apartment on 14 June. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)