Actor Arjun Rampal's relative Agisilaos Demetriades and former Dharma Productions employee Kshitij Prasad have been taken into custody by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with an international drug trafficking case.
A special court on Wednesday remanded the duo in the agency's custody for two days in the case in which recently the NCB had made 10 arrests including a Nigerian national. Both are currently in Taloja jail in the drugs case connected with the late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
In the crackdown on various locations in Vasai and Andheri last month, the NCB had recovered 1 kg cocaine, 2 kg phencyclidine (PCP), 29.3 kg MDA and 70 gm mephedrone. In an operation in Jammu in connection with the case, 56 kg hashish was seized.
The trafficking was taking place in the western suburbs of the city. The agency claimed the racket used international courier services for the trafficking.
The plea for their custody in this case was filed by the agency on Wednesday and was granted by the court. Special Public Prosecutor Atul Sarpande told the court that their role has come forth in this other case and hence their custody is required for further investigation. Their names have cropped up during the investigation of the case, the court was informed.
Special judge under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act GB Gurao passed an order transferring them to the other case for investigation. The superintendent of the Taloja jail where the duo has been lodged was directed by the court to hand over their custody to the NCB. The agency is supposed to readmit them to the jail after the remand period.
Prasad was arrested by the agency on September 26 this year after his name had allegedly surfaced from an accused in the case Ankush Arneja, who the agency claims revealed that he had supplied hashish to Prasad through another accused on various occasions.
Demetriades was arrested a month later. The agency claims he is directly connected with a co-accused in the case from whom commercial quantity of drugs was seized and that he has links with other co-accused too.
