Celeb-peddler drug link: Firoz Nadiadwala summoned, NCB nabs top filmmaker's wife and 4 others

Celeb-peddler drug link: Firoz Nadiadwala summoned, NCB nabs top filmmaker's wife and 4 others

Firoz has been summoned to appear before the agency on Monday.

Pratik SalunkeUpdated: Sunday, November 08, 2020, 10:39 PM IST
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Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Canadian national Shabana Saeed, wife of film producer Firoz A Nadiadwala, and four others in a drug case on Sunday.

Firoz has been summoned to appear before the agency on Monday. Earlier in the day, the NCB conducted searches at the residence of the Nadiadwalas at Barkat 20, Gulmohar Cross Road in the upscale JVPD Scheme, in the presence of two independent witnesses. Sources said that Saeed has been charged for consumption and possession.

The NCB team, led by Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, has been cracking down on drug peddlers, many of them with links to celebrities.
The agency stated that the arrest of Saeed was a follow-up action, based on the interrogation of Wahid Abdul Kadir Sheikh alias Sultan, a drug peddler in the western suburbs of the city. He was recently arrested for possession of marijuana, hashish and mephedrone (MD) when the agency intercepted his car.

The Free Press Journal had reported about the agency closing in on a drug module.

The agency has alleged that Saeed had procured the drugs from Sultan, who has been allegedly supplying drugs to many high-profile people. “During the house search,10 grams of marijuana that had been procured from the accused Sultan were recovered.

Saeed was issued notice under section 67 of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) and after recording her statement, she was placed under arrest on Sunday,” said a senior NCB officer.

The NCB sources said that Sultan had adopted the name inspired by the character of the same name played by actor Ajay Devgn in the 2010 hit 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai'. The actor played the role of Sultan Mirza, which was reportedly inspired by real-life gangster Haji Mastan.

The agency has been conducting searches at Versova, Goregaon and in Navi Mumbai since Saturday. In relation to the case, the NCB has arrested four others and seized 717.1 grams of marijuana, 74.1 grams of charas and 95.1 grams of mephedrone (MD), a commercial quantity under the law and Rs 3.58 lakh in Indian currency too has been recovered from the accused.

“The four others who have been arrested are peddlers and suppliers,” said the officer.

In the case of marijuana also known as cannabis, a small quantity, which is up to one kilogram, carries rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or a fine of up to Rs 10,000, or both, under the NDPS Act.

Nadiadwala has produced films such as Welcome, Phir Hera Pheri, Awaara Pagal Deewana, Aan: Men at Work', Fool N Final among others.

The ambit of the NCB probe widened further when the alleged links of certain Bollywood celebrities and peddlers came under the scanner during the agency’s investigation in a drugs case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

The agency arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty, Agisilaos Demetriades, brother of actor Arjun Rampal's girlfriend Gabriella in a separate case, also linked to the death of Rajput.

Last month, the agency arrested Preetika Chauhan,30, a television actor when she was allegedly receiving drugs from one Faisal, 20, a supplier.

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