Hyderabad: The Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB) raided a rave party in Hyderabad and detained five persons, including a Tollywood film producer, officials said on Thursday. In coordination with the police, TSNAB officials conducted the raid late Wednesday night at an apartment building in Madhapur. They reportedly seized cocaine and other drugs.
The police are questioning the producer and four others, including two young women from Delhi. The Anti-Narcotics Bureau handed over the suspects and the seized drugs to Madhapur police. Police suspect that the drugs were brought from Goa and investigations are on to find out about the organisers of the party and who had brought the narcotics. This is the latest incident in which a Tollywood figure has been detained in a drug case. Producer K. P. Choudhary was arrested by Hyderabad police in June for possessing drugs.
He was allegedly supplying drugs to some celebrities and children of politicians. Tollywood came under the scanner in 2007 when Customs officials arrested Calvin Mascarenhas, a musician, and two others and seized drugs from their possession. They were allegedly supplying drugs to film celebrities, software engineers, and even students of some corporate schools.
A total of 12 cases were registered in connection with the drugs racket. Thirty people were arrested, while 62 individuals including 11 people connected, with Tollywood were examined by the SIT under section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and section 161 of Criminal Procedure Code. An American, a South African and a Netherlands national were among those arrested. The SIT had filed a charge sheet in eight out of 12 cases. It, however, gave clean chit to the film personalities who were questioned as part of the investigation.
