Deepika’s manager Karishma Prakash summoned again by NCB

Mumbai:

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday 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 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.