Hyderabad: A day after the Prohibition and Excise department concluded its questioning of Telugu film celebrities in connection with a drug bust, an official of Excise police visited the Rama Naidu film studio to investigate an overseas parcel delivered to the studio.
Excise Circle Inspector Kanaka Durga questioned the owner of the studio, D Suresh Babu, and inspected the parcel.
Suresh Babu, a leading film producer, confirmed the receipt of the parcel and explained that it contained medicines for his son.
The development was significant in view of the information that courier services were being misused to bring drugs purchased abroad online.
It came a day after the special investigation team of the department concluded the questioning of those suspected of links with a drug peddler.
Actor Anand Krishna, alias Nandu, was one of the 12 members from the movie industry to be questioned.
Meanwhile, in the continuing crackdown, the Excise department also arrested a South African, Alex Victor, for transporting a huge quantity of cocaine. He was arrested at the Shamshabad International Airport soon after he landed in the city via Mumbai.
Excise Officials said that he was booked on charges of drug peddling, and they questioned his customers in Hyderabad.
This is a new addition to the long list of drug peddlers who have been arrested during a monthlong crackdown. The 20 persons arrested so far include two Nigerians, a US citizen of Indian origin, a Dutch national, and several local youngsters, seven of whom are engineers employed with MNCs.
Some of the peddlers, including Calvin Mascarenhas, were found to be supplying drugs to Telugu film celebrities.
Senior officials of the Excise department said that they had gathered a lot of information from the 12 film personalities and the future course of action will be decided at a high-level meeting on the basis of legal opinion. “The decision to issue notices to some more people from the industry will be based on legal evidences. No second list has been prepared”, an official said while denying that the case has been closed.
