Drug Racket: Telugu Actor Pallapollu Navdeep Appears Before SIT

Hyderabad: Telugu actor Pallapollu Navdeep on Monday appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) of the Telangana government in connection with the high-end drugs racket busted here earlier this month.

He is the third actor after Tarun Kumar and character actor P Subba Raju to appear before SIT officials.

The SIT officials said actresses Charmee Kaur and Mumaith Kaur would also be appearing before the probing team.

The SIT of the Prohibition and Excise department has summoned nearly 12 personalities, including actors from the Telugu film industry, for questioning in connection with the racket.

The SIT had issued notices to all of them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after the racket, involved in supplying high-end drugs such as LSD and MDMA in and around Hyderabad, was busted on July 2.

The racket involved supplying high-end drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and methylenedioxy- methamphetamine (MDMA). The investigators suspect that film personalities, employees of MNCs, school and college students were among the clients.

The racketeers placed orders through the 'Darknet' (a restricted online network frequently used in illegal activities) and the drugs were delivered by couriers, including from overseas, the officials had said.

The excise officials earlier said that names of some Telugu film personalities came out during the interrogation of those arrested. The SIT was quizzing them to find out if they had any links with the racket as consumers or suppliers or with those arrested.

Blood, hair and nail samples of some of those grilled were also collected.

Since July 19, the SIT has questioned noted filmmaker Puri Jagannadh, cinematographer Shyam K Naidu and character actor P Subba Raju, besides Tarun and Pallapollu Navdeep.

Navdeep has starred in Telugu films like "Jai", "Arya 2" and "Dhruva". He has also acted in a few Tamil films.

The SIT officials maintained that the Telugu film personalities quizzed so far in connection with the cases have cooperated with the investigators and given "useful" information related to the racket.

The SIT has arrested 15 people, including US citizen Dundu Anish, a former aerospace engineer who has worked with the NASA, and seven BTech degree holders employed with multi- national companies in Hyderabad.