Mumbai: A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded Kshitij Ravi Prasad, who was earlier hired as an executive producer by a firm of filmmaker Karan Johar, in the NCB’s custody till October 3 following his arrest in a drugs caselinked to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Prasad had joined Dharmatic Entertainment (sister concern of Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions) in November 2019 as one ofthe executive producers on a contract basis for a project, which eventually did not materialise, Johar said in a statement on Friday.
Prasad was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday after questioning. He was produced before a magistrate court here via video conferencing which remanded him in the probe agency’s custody till October 3 for further investigation.
The NCB on Saturday recorded statements of actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the drugs probe linked to Rajput’s death and an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus. The probe agency told the court on Sunday that Prasad in his statement said he had procured drugs from another accused Karamjeet Singh Anand and his associates.
The probe agency further said the investigation into the case revealed that the accused is a part of conspiracy for drug procurement with other accused persons. He is connected with other accused linked to Rajput’s death case, it said. The investigation into this case is in preliminary stage as revelations made by Prasad are to be verified, the NCB further said.
It also said Prasad is indirectly connected with accused Anuj Keshwani, from whom commercial quantity of a contraband was seized. Therefore, it is necessary to interrogate in deep as to whom the accused was delivering the contraband in Bollywood, it added.
Prasad’s name cropped up during the NCB’s wider probe into the alleged Bollywod-drugs nexus. On Friday, the NCB also questioned Anubhav Chopra, who earlier worked with Dharma Productions, in connection with the alleged drug-nexus in the Hindi film industry.
However, according to Dharma Productions owner Karan Johar, he doesn’t know any of them personally. Johar in a statement on Friday said Prasad had joined Dharmatic Entertainment, sister concern of Dharma Productions, in November 2019 as one ofthe executive producers on a contract basis for a project, which eventually did not materialise.
The filmmaker said Chopra was briefly associated with hisbanner as an assistant director and worked only on two projects. “He was briefly associated with us for only two months inthe capacity of 2nd assistant director for a film, between November 2011 and January 2012 and as assistant director for theshort film in January 2013. He has thereafter never been associatedwith Dharma Productions for any other project,” Johar said.
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