Day after comedian Bharti Singh’s arrest, NCB takes her husband into custody
Singh was arrested on Saturday after she confessed to consuming drugs.
Comedian Bharti Singh’s husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa was arrested on Sunday morning over charges of possession and use of drugs, reported PTI, citing Narcotics Control Bureau officials. Singh was arrested on Saturday after she confessed to consuming drugs.
Limbachiyaa was taken into custody after a 15-hour interrogation, according to NDTV. The anti-drugs agency also searched their residence on Saturday, and recovered “a small quantity of cannabis”. The agency seized 86.5 gm of the drug.
NCB’s Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede confirmed Limbachiyaa’s arrest. The couple along with two other people will be presented before a court in Mumbai after their medical analysis, Wankhede said. A case was registered against the accused under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances or NDPS Act.
Saturday’s raids at the comedian’s home was done on the basis of a tip-off. The NCB’s widening investigation into drug consumption within the film industry began with the inquiry into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide in June.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik said the NCB was arresting those who consume drugs. “They’re addicts who should be sent to rehab, not jail,” he said, according to ANI. “NCB’s duty is to track down drug traffickers but no action being taken against them. Is NCB protecting them by arresting drug addicts from film industry?”
On November 13, actor Arjun Rampal was questioned by the NCB in Mumbai in a drugs case after raid at his home. He later claimed to have prescription for the drugs found during the raid. Rampal’s partner Gabriella Demetriades was questioned two days before him. The NCB had previously taken Gabriella Demetriades’ brother Agisilaos Demetriades into custody for links with drug peddlers arrested in the case linked to Rajput’s death.
The NCB had on November 8 arrested Shabana Saeed, the wife of Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala, after investigators seized 10 grams of marijuana during a raid at her Juhu residence in Mumbai. She was sent to judicial custody but was granted bail the next day. On October 26, the agency had arrested five people in Mumbai, including television actor Preetika Chauhan.
The anti-drug agency claims to have unearthed a close nexus between illegal drug consumption and the film industry. On September 8, the NCB had arrested Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty in a drug case related to Rajput’s death, and also questioned Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the same matter.
Also read:
Comedian Bharti Singh arrested by NCB after questioning in drugs case