Hyderabad: The manager of actor Kajal Agarwal was on Monday arrested in connection with the drug racket which the Telangana Prohibition and Excise Department busted in the city earlier this month.
"Puttkar Ronson Joseph (Agarwal's manager) was arrested after his house in Manikonda area here was searched," a senior official told PTI. Investigators found ganja (cannabis) at his house, the official added.
With this, the number of persons arrested in the case has reached 19, he said.
Telugu actor Pallapollu Navdeep on Monday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the case. His questioning was continuing late in the evening.
The SIT has summoned a dozen personalities from the Tollywood (Telugu film industry) for questioning after the racket was busted in the city on July 2. So far it has questioned 27 persons, including five from the Tollywood.
The racketeers supplied high-end party drugs such as Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and Methylenedioxy Methamphetamine (MDMA) to employees of multi-national firms, members of the Telugu film industry and students, among others, the investigators have said.
Excise Enforcement Director Akun Sabharwal said the department was following the Supreme Court's guidelines while questioning people. "The department is following all provisions of the law including the Supreme Court's guidelines as far as interviewing and questioning is concerned," he said.
Actor Charmee Kaur, who is among those summoned, on Monday moved the Hyderabad High Court, saying she should be questioned in the presence of women officers and her lawyers.
"I need legal assistance during the enquiry in order to protect my fundamental rights and also to avoid torture, coercion and threat," her petition said, expressing fear that she may be compelled to give false and self-incriminating statement, and the officials may collect her blood, hair and nail samples against her will.
However, Sabharwal said that no samples are collected without a written consent of the person. Women officers are already a part of the probe team, he added.
Art director Dharma Rao alias Chinna will appear before the SIT tomorrow, he said.
Since July 19, the SIT has questioned filmmaker Puri Jagannadh, cinematographer Shyam K Naidu and actors P Subba Raju and Tarun Kumar. Those arrested include Dundu Anish, a US citizen and former aerospace engineer with the NASA, and seven B Tech degree-holders working with multi-national companies in Hyderabad.
