WEB DESK
Comedian Bharti Singh has been arrested after questioning by the Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai. Ms Singh and her husband, Harsh Limbachiyaa, were taken to the NCB’s Mumbai office for questioning after the anti-drug agency recovered a “small quantity of cannabis” during a search of their home this morning,
Visuals from outside their residence – an apartment complex in Andheri – showed Ms Singh being driven away in a red Mercedes, while Mr Limbachiyaa was taken in a white NCB van. Ms Singh, on arriving at the NCB’s office, told reporters: “They have called us for some questioning, that’s all.”
The NCB searched Singh’s house and office in the morning as part of its probe into alleged drug use in the Hindi film industry. A team led by Sameer Wankhede, the central agency’s zonal director, carried out a search at Singh’s residence at Lokhandwala Complex as well as her production house based on a tip-off, a release said.
It recovered 86.5 grams of ganja during the search, the release added. “Both Ms Bharti Singh and her husband Harsh Limbachiya accepted consumption of ganja. Bharti Singh was placed under arrest under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and examination of Mr Limbachiya is underway,” the NCB release added.
The quantity allegedly seized from Singh’s possession is considered as “small quantity” under the act, as against “commercial quantity”, an NCB official said.
According to another NCB official, quoted by news agency, Ms Singh’s name emerged during questioning of a drug peddler; a search of her home recovered a “small quantity of cannabis”. The agency also carried out searches at two other locations in Mumbai, the official added.
The raids come amid an expanding probe – which began with inquiries into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June – into alleged drug use by members of the entertainment industry.
Earlier this month actor Arjun Rampal’s home was searched, and both he and his girlfriend, Gabriella Demetriades, were summoned for questioning.
Ms Demetriades was questioned over two days (for a total of 12 hours) while Mr Rampal was questioned for six hours last week. As he was leaving the agency’s office in south Mumbai, he clarified that the substances found by the NCB at his residence were part of a prescription.
“I am fully cooperating with the investigation. I have nothing to do with drugs. The medicine found at my residence was prescribed. The prescription has been found and handed over,” he said.