INDIA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned several Tollywood actors and directors in connection with a four-years-old drugs case. An ED official confirmed that it has summoned actress Rakul Preet Singh, Tollywood actor Rana Daggubati, Ravi Teja, Puri Jagannadh, Charmee Kaur, and Mumaith Khan. All of them are going to be questioned on separate dates.
Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the state government to submit a status report on the 2017 drugs case, in which several Tollywood celebrities faced a probe.
Meanwhile, the ED was quick to state the people summoned are not accused in any way. “It is premature to say whether they are involved in money laundering,” senior officials of the agency clarified.
According to the reports, ED has asked Jagannadh to appear on or before August 31. Along with this, Rakul Preet, Daggubati, and Teja have been asked to appear before the agency on September 6, September 8, and September 9 respectively.
An ED official said that the agency has taken over the probe based on a case registered in Telangana in 2017. All the summoned people are believed to have a connection with a high-end drugs racket.
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Tollywood celebrities and around 1,000 students from famous schools and colleges were found to be using prohibited drugs such as Lysergic acid diethylamide and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
In August 2017, The Telangana Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested a South African national for supplying cocaine from Mumbai to Hyderabad.
The development has created ripples in Tollywood as the two leading actors who were not questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana excise and prohibition department two years ago, have also been summoned by the ED.
