Bengaluru: Star couple Diganth Manchale and Aindrita Ray have been issued notice to appear for questioning in the Kannada film drugs racket case.
This is the first time that an actor is being suspected in the case in which actresses’ Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani have already been arrested.
It is learnt that investigators have obtained evidence that the couple had attended parties organised by the arrested accused Viren Khanna, Ravi Shankar and Rahul Shetty.
There are indications that Aindrita participated in a party organised at a gambling den in Sri Lanka by Shaikh Faziullah, an accused in the case. The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) is looking for Faziullah.
Aindrita made her film debut in 2006 with ‘Jackpot’. She then co-starred with Diganth in ‘Meravanige’ in 2008. The two got married in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Central Crime Branch police raided the resort of Aditya Alva, a real estate businessman and the sixth accused in the case. Aditya, the son of former Janata Dal leader and former Karnataka minister late Jeevaraj Alva and the brother-in-law of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, is reportedly in hiding in Mumbai.
Investigators have found out that Aditya organised drug parties on weekends at his resort, which also includes his bungalow. Foreigners and celebrities took part in the parties, they said. Aditya is said to have a close friendship with Viren Khanna, the celebrity organiser of drug parties.
The actress was taken to Parappana Agrahara Central Jail around 7:30pm on Monday after she was remanded in the drugs case. She was admitted to the prison hospital due to low blood sugar. Ragini was arrested on September 4.
Actress Sanjana Galrani, who is in the custody of the CCB, was found to have changed the SIMs in her mobile phone. Her custody will end on Wednesday.
