Bangalore: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bangalore is currently probing the drug menace in the Kannada film industry. The CCB carried out searches at actress Ragini Dwivedi’s residence here Friday morning, police said. At the time of filing the report the raids were continuing, sources said. “The CCB obtained the search warrant from a court,” a police officer said.
According to police sources, a team of CCB sleuths reached Ragini Dwivedi’s residence at about 6.00am.
The CCB had served a notice to the actress Wednesday, asking her to depose before them Thursday. However, Ragini sent a team of lawyers seeking time till Monday. The police directed her to appear before them Friday. CCB sources said the actress will appear before the sleuths at 10.00am.
In the meantime, the police said they have arrested one Ravi, who has close acquaintances in the Kannada film industry. Ravi has been arrested in connection with the drugs case and a court has sent him to police custody for five days.
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The CCB has intensified its investigation into a drugs haul here. This happened after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested three persons from the city. They were allegedly supplying drugs to singers and actors in the Kannada film industry, also known as ‘Sandalwood’.
Filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh had given his statement to the CCB about drug abuse in ‘Sandalwood’. He had also claimed that at least 15 people in the industry were involved in the drugs trade.
Ragini’s family hails from Haryana’s Rewari. She however, was born in Bengaluru. She made her debut in the movie Veera Madakari in 2009. She shot to fame for her role in Kempe Gowda, Ragini IPS, Bangari and Shiva.