Crucial meet on drug bust soon

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Excise Enforcement of Wing is expected to conduct a meeting with Director Mr Akun Sabarwal soon to discuss the future course of action on the case, particularly regarding proceedings against Tollywood actors.

The SIT completed its interrogation of film personalities on Tuesday. It plans to go through the video recordings, statements, and interrogation reports of the accused, suspects and witnesses who have appeared before the team so far.

The SIT has been updating Mr Anurag Sharma, the Director General of Police, on the progress made on the case. With top functionaries of the government and the home department in the picture, the SIT has decided to act solely based on evidence.

A top official from the SIT said, “There isn’t a second list of Tollywood stars to be interrogated, as is widely being claimed. We haven’t decided to file a chargesheet yet. We will issue notices in the future, based on legal evidence recovered from the investigation so far. We will only arrest Tollywood actors who have already been questioned if we find legal evidence against them. It will take some time to go through the findings.” The official denied allegations that the probe had been closed.

The total footage from the interrogation of 12 Tollywood personalities spans over 100 hours in all. The entire footage will be verified by officials. The interrogation of other individuals has produced about 50 to 75 hours of footage. The SIT will also carry out discussions regarding the NDPS Act with legal experts.