New Delhi, Nov 28, 2020-
Kannada film actress Ragini Dwivedi has moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in connection with the Sandalwood drug case.
Dwivedi has filed a special leave petition in the top court challenging the November 3, order of the Karnataka High Court, which declined to grant her relief along with another accused Sanjjanaa Galrani in the case.
The duo was arrested by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch Police in September this year.
“Justice Sreeniwas Harish Kumar dismissed the bail petitions of Ragini, Sanjjanaa and co-accused Prashant Ranka who are under judicial custody since mid-September for their alleged involvement in use of banned drugs,” a city crime branch police official had told reporters quoting the prosecutor on November 3.
Ragini was arrested on September 4 and Sanjana on September 8 under various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly consuming and supplying banned drugs at parties and events organised in the city over the last couple of years.
All the accused are lodged in the central jail on the outskirts of the city’s southern suburb.
“The trial court on September 28 dismissed their bail applications on the grounds they could influence the other accused and hamper investigation into the drugs scam,” said the official.
The special NDPS court had also refused to grant bail to both the actors on the same day (September 28).
The special public prosecutor contended that as the investigation is pending, the accused should remain in judicial custody.
The city police began a crackdown on the use of banned drugs in the Sandalwood industry in August last week after noted Kannada film producer Inderjit Lankesh alleged that about a dozen actors were into drugs and there was a nexus between them and drug mafias.
Besides Ragini and Sanjana, 20 drug peddlers, party organisers and their associates were arrested and jailed pending the investigation. (Agency)
