Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani was arrested earlier this week.
Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani, who was arrested earlier this week after the Bengaluru Police widened its probe into the illegal drug market, on Thursday said she was being made a "scapegoat" in the case. In a video, shot at a hospital in the city, she was seen having a heated argument with officials when she was asked to undergo a dope test as she insisted that it's her "fundamental right to say no".
"I have done nothing wrong. I am losing my faith on police. First they told reporters that they will protect me, now they are asking me to undergo this test. How do I trust them?" the Kannada actress said.
"My lawyer has told me that I can choose not to undergo a test.. it's my fundamental right to say no. You made me a scapegoat and brought me here... I have no role in this case. There is no evidence against me and I have done nothing wrong," she is heard saying in the video as others in the room record the argument on their phone camera.
The actress, who made her film debut in a Tamil movie 'Oru Kadhal Seiveer' in 2006, later agreed to undergo the dope test.
The Central Crime Branch had intensified its investigation into the 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. A total of nine people have been arrested so far.
Sanjjanaa Galrani was under the radar of the crime branch ever since her friend Rahul, a realtor, was charged in connection with the drug case, officials said. Searches were conducted at the Indiranagar home of Ms Galrani in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning; she was arrested hours later.
"There are many verticals. Drug use and abuse has got no distinctions. All sections of society have gone into this. As a government it is our responsibility to ensure this menace is contained. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister, we are trying our best to break all kind of vertical supply chain, sources and users," Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan said earlier this week.
Last week, Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi was arrested, hours after her home was searched. Her bail hearing was today adjourned to next week.
The CCB has also summoned businessman Prashanth Sambargi in the case.
A couple of weeks ago, Kannada filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh, brother of the late activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh, had appeared before the crime branch and shared information about the alleged use of drugs in the Kannada film industry.
"I am grateful that Kamal Pant (Bengaluru police chief) has taken this initiative. I will tell them whatever information I have and help them. I want this investigation to go well with our support so that our industry gets justice. It is really good I welcome it. I want the industry to get justice and be cleaned up," Mr Lankesh had said.