Bengaluru: The Sandalwood drug case has got murkier with the probe officers investigating the terror and hawala links to the racket.
The internal security division of the Karnataka Police has found that an international racket was smuggling drugs to India. This racket was also associated with the casinos in Sri Lanka, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Kannada actor Diganth Manchale was questioned for about two hours on Wednesday. Diganth had confessed that he started taking drugs after he partially lost eyesight around five years ago. The police sought information on the source of the drugs. This is the second time he is being questioned.
Earlier, the police had questioned Diganth along with his wife and actress Aindrita Ray in connection with the case. The star couple was summoned for questioning after the probe officers obtained evidence that they had attended parties organised by one of the accused Viren Khanna.
Viren, who organised rave parties, was arrested along with actresses Ragini Dwivedi Sanjjanaa Galrani. The police are looking into the contacts of Viren. Viren is reportedly a close acquaintance of an MLA’s son in Bengaluru city, according to sources. Children of several politicians are also on the contact list of Viren’s phone.
Kannada serial actors Abhishek Das and Geetha Bharathi Bhatt were also summoned by the police. Actor Yogesh and cricketer N C Aiyappa are likely to be questioned again.
The Karnataka Police began the investigation after the Narcotics Control Bureau nabbed three people from Bengaluru with a drug haul. They were allegedly supplying drugs to Kannada film actors and singers. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru has arrested 13 people so far, while it is on the lookout for at least seven more people. Apart from actresses Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani, those arrested include a realtor and a RTO clerk.
