ED summons 12 Tollywood celebs including Rakul Preet, Rana Dagubatti in money laundering probe linked to drugs case
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New Delhi, August 26: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned 12 Tollywood actors and directors, including Rakul Preet Singh, Rana Daggubati, and Ravi Teja, in connection with a four-year-old drugs case.
The ED has asked actors Rakul Preet Singh, Rana Daggubati, Ravi Teja, Charmee Kaur, Navdeep, Mumaith Khan, and director Puri Jagannath to appear before it between August 31 and September 22
According to the reports, Singh has been asked to appear on 6 September, Daggubati has been summoned on September 8, and Teja has been summoned on 9 September. Among the others arrested are Navdeep Mumaith Khan, Tarun, Tanish Nandu, and Charmee Kaur.
The celebrities have been summoned as a witness in the case. The money laundering probe by the ED is based on a case by the excise and prohibition department.
“Around 12 cases were booked by the Telangana Excise and Prohibition department and 11 charge sheets were filled. Most drug traffickers around eight persons were charge-sheeted in the cases then. Most of them are lower-level drug traffickers. We have called excise officials as witnesses. Likewise, till we get evidence Tollywood celebrities will be considered as witnesses. Their names have figured in the investigation,” an ED official said.
The drugs racket was busted on July 2, 2017, when customs officials arrested Calvin Mascarenhas, a musician, and two others and seized drugs worth Rs 30 lakh from their possession. They had reportedly told the investigators that they are supplying drugs to film celebrities, software engineers, and even students of some corporate schools. Mobile numbers of some Tollywood celebrities were allegedly found in their contact lists.
Following this, these 12 actors and directors were questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) as part of a high-end drug racket however they were given a clean chit because of lack of evidence against them.
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