Bengaluru: Now, police summon Sambargi in drug case

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch probing the drug menace in the Kannada film industry and alleged involvement of other bigwigs, has asked businessman Prashanth Sambargi to appear before it and share the information he has, CCB sources said on Friday.

"Notice issued to Sambargi to appear before CCB to state whatever he knows about the case," a senior CCB official said. In his statement to the media recently, Sambargi had alleged that actress Sanjjanaa Galrani, who has been arrested, and Zameer Ahmed Khan (Congress MLA) knew each other well and both had been to an event at a casino in Sri Lanka on June 8, 2019 along with their common acquaintance.

Police are on the lookout for the acquaintance.

The CCB summoning him comes on a day the Enforcement Directorate has stepped in to investigate the financial aspects of the drug peddling and substance abuse case. Dismissing the allegation as a lie, Khan has said he had never seen Sanjjanaa Galrani before in Bengaluru, let alone meeting her in Colombo. Considering it derogatory, Khan had lodged a complaint in a city court against Sambargi, based on which the court directed the police to register a case. Accordingly, a case has been against Sambargi, police sources said. Meanwhile, the police arrested another person in connection with the drugs case.

"Prateek Shetty has been arrested in the Cottonpet case (drug menace in Kannada film industry). He is a drug peddler supplying drugs," Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said in a statement. The case, reportedly involving bigwigs of the state and those in tinsel town, came to light when the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested three people who were allegedly supplying drugs to those in Kannada film industry. After their arrest, the city police too swung into action and arrested eight people including film actresses Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani. A search is on for seven more people, who are at large.

On Thursday, Sanjjana Galrani refused to give her blood samples for a dope test as a part of the CCB investigation. Sanjjana Galrani, who was arrested in the drug racket case, argued with the investigating officer Puneeth and other senior doctors. She had stated that she had no clue why she was arrested. Sanjjana claimed that it was her fundamental right to say no to giving a blood sample and that her lawyers had informed her to do so. Sanjjana claimed that she was arrested merely on the basis of chats and that there was no evidence to prove her guilty.