Mumbai: A Mumbai court on Thursday granted bail to Kshitij Ravi Prasad, a former Dharmatic Entertainment executive producer, and a suspected drug peddler arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with its probe into the alleged use of drugs in Bollywood. However, Prasad will not come out of jail today as he has also been implicated in another case, the bail plea of which will be heard on December 3, his lawyer Satish Maneshinde said.
Prasad was arrested on September 26 under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after questioning in the drugs case linked to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Special NDPS Court Judge G B Gurao granted him bail on Thursday, Maneshinde said.
The court, while granting bail on a bond of Rs 50,000, directed the accused not to leave the country without its permission and also asked him not to tamper with the evidence or investigation into the case. Prasad earlier alleged that he was implicated in the case by the NCB after he refused to give false statements against Bollywood celebrities like director Karan Johar and others.
However, the probe agency had deniedhis allegations. The NCB had submitted that Prasad gave the statement voluntarily and no false claims were inserted in it.
It alleged that Prasad, along with other accused, was part of a drug procurement and distribution racket. Prasad was briefly associated with Dharmatic Entertainment, a sister concern of Johar’s Dharma Productions.
Meanwhile, the special court also granted bail to suspected drug peddler Dwayne Fernandes, also an accused in the drugs case. As per the probe agency, Fernandes used to deal in curated marijuana and hashish, and is an associate of Showik Chakraborty, brother of actress Rhea Chakraborty.
The NCB suspects Fernandes had supplied drugs which were arranged for late actor Rajput. The NCB has been probing the alleged use of drugs in some quarters of Bollywood after the death of Rajput in June this year on the basis of WhatsApp chats involving drugs.
The central agency had earlier arrested Rhea Chakraborty, Showik, some staff members of the deceased actor and a few others under various sections of the NDPS Act. Rhea Chakraborty and some other accused are currently out on bail.
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