Kannada Actor Ragini Dwivedi Arrested In Connection With Drugs Case

Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi, whose home was searched on Friday morning for an investigation into drug abuse, has been arrested, the police said.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) had served a notice to the actor on Wednesday, asking her to depose before them on Thursday, but she sent a team of lawyers seeking time till Monday.

However, the police raided Ms Dwivedi's residence early Friday morning after getting a search warrant from a court and took her to the CCB office in the afternoon to question her, an officer said

Later in the evening, in a statement, Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said, "Ragini Dwivedi has been arrested and taken into custody."

Besides, the actor, two people named Rahul and Viren Khanna were arrested, he said. With this, four people have been arrested in the case.

The police had earlier said arrested one K Ravishankar, who has links within the Kannada film industry, in connection with the drugs case and a court has sent him to police custody for five days.

According to police, Viren Khanna is a big catch. "He (Khanna) is the main person who organises big parties where drugs are consumed. He was in Delhi and two CCB police inspectors had gone to Delhi and arrested him," Mr Patil said.

K Ravishankar, also known as Ravi, a clerk in the Road Transport Office, was arrested on Thursday while Rahul, a realtor, was taken into custody on Friday, Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant said.

Both of them went to high-end parties frequently and obtain drugs from foreign nationals, he said, adding that the two were peddlers and consumers.

The actor was in close contact with Ravi, the police chief said.

According to Mr Pant, police have started the second level of investigation based on their revelations and accordingly other people have also been called for questioning.

The CCB had intensified its investigation into a drugs scandal in Bengaluru after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested three people from the city, who were allegedly supplying drugs to singers and actors in the Kannada film industry.

The scandal comes amid allegations of drug use surrounding the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.

Ragini Dwivedi, whose family is from Haryana's Rewari, was born in Bengaluru. She made her debut in the movie Veera Madakari in 2009.

She shot to fame for her role in Kempe Gowda, Ragini IPS, Bangari and Shiva.

(With inputs from PTI)