As part of the raids conducted on narcotics-linked locations in Mumbai and Goa on Saturday, the sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have arrested six alleged drug traffickers in connection with a drug case registered in the wake of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
Identifying the six arrested alleged drug peddlers as Karanjeet Singh Anand, Dwayne Fernandes, Sanket Patel, Ankush Anreja, Sandeep Gupta and Aftab Fateh
Ansari, NCB’s Deputy Director K. P. S. Malhotra said on Sunday evening that these accused would be produced before a Mumbai court through video-conferencing on Monday.
“The officers from NCB’s Goa Sub Zone have apprehended one Chris Costa in the same case and further investigation is underway,” Malhotra said.
A senior NCB officer said that among the six persons arrested were arrested were a few peddlers who used to supply drugs to the late actor through Showik Chakraborty and others.
With the six latest arrests, the total number of arrests made in the much-discussed drug case has gone upto 16.
The ten persons arrested earlier were Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, Kaizan Ebrahim, Anuj Keshwani, Abbas Lakhani, Karan Arora, Zaid Vilatra, Abdel Basit Parihar, Samuel Miranda and Dipesh Sawant
Among the six persons arrested during the last 24 hours are Anand (23) who is allegedly a Mumbai-based narcotics supplier who supplies drugs to people in in Bollywood. The NCB sleuths have recovered unspecified quantities of Charas and Ganja from him.
In his statement to the NCB, Showik had described Anand as a “supplier”.
An associate of Showik Chakraborty, Dwayne is an alleged city-based drug dealer who used to supply the drugs for Sushant. He was arrested from Dadar west area along with other peddlers,. From whom the NCB recovered half-a-kilo of Ganja.
NCB sources said that Gupta, another arrested person, was an autorickshaw driver by profession “but his main business was to ferry bulk quantities of weed to retailer peddlers like in the current case.
Patel, part of the drugs distribution chain of Anand, used to deliver the narcotics to various celebrities as the NCB prepares to peek deep into the alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus.
Nabbed from the upmarket Powai area, Anreja, 29 runs a food kitchen in a posh area of Mumbai and sells narcotics like weed, hash and MD to high profile clients.
Anreja used to buy his supplies from Anand and Patel and was also connected with Anand and Anuj Keshwani – who had been arrested earlier in the same case. The NCB recovered 42 gms of Charas and cash Rs.112,400 from Anreja.
Ansari, the sixth person to be arrested during the weekend, used to operate a wholesale procurement channel of weed for Gupta who distributed it further through others in the network.
Sources said that the NCB officials had conducted the raids on the basis of “specific information” provided by alleged drug peddler Anuj Keswani was arrested by the NCB after Kaizan Ebrahim disclosed his name. Kaizan Ebrahim had reportedly told the investigators that Anuj Keshwani was his supplier of narcotic drugs.
Keswani and Kaizan are among the ten persons arrested in connection with the drug case registered by the NCB. The other arrested accused in the case are Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, Abbas Lakhani, Karan Arora, Zaid Vilatra, Abdel Basit Parihar, Samuel Miranda and Dipesh Sawant.
During the 19-long hours of grilling carried out during a span of three days, Rhea reportedly admitted that she had procured drugs for Sushant through her currently arrested brother Showik Chakraborty, that she had acknowledged that she knew about Samuel purchasing drugs for the actor from drug peddler Zaid Vilatra and that she had accepted that she had accepted drug-related WhatsApp chats between her and others
However, Rhea has retracted the confessional statement recorded by the NCB ahead of her arrest.
The NCB's case is based on 59 grams of curated marijuana seized from alleged drug peddlers Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora who were arrested earlier, and have now been granted bail.
More seizures were made from Anuj Keshvani based on the disclosure from Kaizan Ibrahim, who according to the NCB is another drug peddler who supplied marijuana to Showik Chakraborty and Samuel Miranda through Abdel Basit Parihar.
Keshwani, whose role has made the investigations more complicated. is under examination for questioning. In a statement detailing the drugs seized from Keshwani, the NCB has said: "In continuation of operations against the drug syndicate, a raid was conducted in Mumbai by Mumbai Zonal Unit, NCB. The following drugs were seized: 590 grams of hashish, 0.64 gm of LSD sheets, 304 gms of marijuana, including imported marijuana joints and capsules, Rs 1,85,200 in cash and 5,000 Indonesian Rupian”. The quantity of LSD that has been recovered is commercial quantity under NDPS Act.
Rhea had earlier been questioned by the NCB her about the whatsApp exchanges between Rhea and others that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had shared with the CBI and NCB alleging “procuring and usage” of drugs.
It was on the basis of this WhatsApp message trail that the ED had joined the investigations on August 26 into the allegations that Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea used to procure banned drugs illegally from dealers and administer them to Sushant, who was found dead in his rented duplex flat in Mount Blanc at Bandra’s Carter Road in north-west Mumbai on June 14.
On her part, Rhea had earlier denied consuming drugs and said that she was prepared for a drug test anytime. She, however, admitted that Sushant used to take marijuana and despite her efforts, she could not control him.
