Guwahati: Actor Deepika Padukone, who has been summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drug case related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, on Thursday arrived in Mumbai from Goa.
Padukone, who was shooting for Shakun Batra’s film with Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi in Goa, was accompanied by actor-husband Ranveer Singh.
Republic Media Network sources have now informed that in a big move, Ranveer Singh has formally asked the central anti-drug agency whether he can be present during his wife’s questioning on Saturday.
In his application to the NCB, Ranveer Singh has stated that Deepika Padukone sometimes suffers from anxiety and gets panic attacks, and hence he should be granted permission to be with her, sources said.
The actor has stated that he is a ‘law-abiding citizen’ and knows that he cannot be present at the time of Deepika Padukone’s questioning but is understood to have requested that he be allowed inside the NCB office.
However, no decision has been taken by the NCB on his application, sources said. Deepika Padukone is set to appear before the NCB on September 26, along with Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor.
Actor Rakul Preet Singh and Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash are summoned on Friday. Meanwhile, statements of fashion designer Simone Khambatta and Shruti Modi, Rajput’s former manager, were recorded by the NCB probe team in connection with the drugs case.
The NCB on Thursday asked Dharma Productions’ executive producer Kshitij Ravi to appear before it in the drugs probe linked to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Dharma Productions is owned by film-maker Karan Johar. Ravi has been asked to appear on Friday as his name surfaced during the probe. So far, the NCB has arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty in the case among others.
Republic Media Network sources had earlier reported that six top male Bollywood actors have called their lawyers, fearful of action being taken against them over NCB’s massive crackdown on the drug nexus in Bollywood. Sources have told that several stars are doing all they can to plan an escape route.
Sources have informed that other talent management agencies have hit the panic button after KWAN came under NCB scanner.
There are at least two angles running in tandem in terms of the NCB’s investigation into the link between Bollywood and drugs – regarding the Sushant Singh Rajput-Rhea Chakraborty and associated angle and regarding Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s complaint about a 2019 Bollywood party video that had emerged earlier in which a lot of Bollywood stars were present.
The video in question had been shared by Karan Johar and had taken place at his house. The NCB has transferred the complaint to Mumbai and is verifying the video.
The summons to stars like Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh and Simone Khambatta, however, are part of two FIRs that are both related to the Sushant Singh Rajput death case drug probe.
