Actor Navdeep quizzed in drug case

Hyderabad, July 24 (IANS) A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Hyderabad drug racket quizzed Telugu actor Navdeep on Monday.

SIT officials began questioning the actor at Abkari Bhavan, the office of Prohibition and Excise Department of Telangana, here around 10 a.m. and it was continuing after 1 p.m., officials said.

Navdeep is the fifth southern filmdom celebrity being questioned by the authorities for alleged links with drug peddlers arrested in the case.

The young actor, one of the 12 celebrities summoned by the SIT for questioning, has already denied taking drugs or having any links with the peddlers.

"It is usual to sensationalise news as soon as there are film people involved, me being involved in events and working with some wrong event managers I can understand why this happened," Navdeep had tweeted on July 14.

"It's a matter of time before this is sorted... requesting media and people to have patience," he added.

Navdeep was being quizzed about his links with Zeeshan Ali Khan alias Jack, one of the accused arrested in the case. The actor admitted that he knew Khan as an event manager but denied involvement in any illegal activity.

The investigating officials on Saturday grilled actor Tarun. They had quizzed actor Subbaraju on Friday. Known for his negative roles in many films, Subbaraju had reportedly provided leads to the SIT for further investigations.

The SIT earlier questioned director Puri Jagannadh and cinematographer Shyam K. Naidu.

The celebrities were summoned for questioning as their contact numbers were found in the call data of Calvin Mascrenhas, the kingpin of the racket.

Actors Ravi Teja and Nandu, actresses Charmee Kaur, Mumaith Khan and art director Chinna are among the other celebrities who will be questioned this week.

The enforcement wing of the department has so far arrested 13 accused, including US citizen Dundu Anish -- an aerospace engineer who had earlier worked with the NASA, and seven B.Tech graduates, most of whom were working for multi-national companies.