In connection to a high-profile drug case, involving Kannada film industry, the Bengaluru police searched actor Vivek Oberoi’s residence in Juhu.  The Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru Police Department had paid the actor a visit in search of his brother-in-law Aditya Alva, who is also the son of Jeearaj Alva, a politician from Karnataka. Vivek’s wife, Priyanka has been summoned by the Central Crime Branch, Bangaluru Police in this regard.

Several celebrities in the Kannada film industry, known as Sandalwood, have already been arrested by the Bengaluru Police with regards to this case.

Uptill now, Bangaluru police have arrested actors Ragini Dwivedi, and Sanjjanna Galrani, party organizer Viren Khanna and realtor Rahul Thonse in this case. In August this year, the Bangaluru unit of the NCB, in a raid at Royal Suits Hotel Apartment, Kalyan Nagar, had seized 145 MDMA pills, known by the street name of ecstasy along with Rs. 2.20 lakh in cash.

In a parallel story of drug seizure in Mumbai, on Wednesday, October 14, a 47-year-old man Manzar Deen Mohammad Shaikh was arrested by the police in Dharavi, for having 1.2 Kg heroin in his position which was worth Rs. 2.40 crores. He was previously arrested in a case of housing an opioid drug but was released on bail in 2018. An official from the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch said that the accused began smuggling even larger quantities of drugs after his release from the jail.

Shaikh was arrested on the 60 Feet Road in Dharavi on Wednesday by the Ghatkopar ANC department officers. Investigation is ongoing to find out who the accused was dealing with.

Prior to this, the ANC had also made such big drug seizures back in January 2020 from Malad Railway Station, capturing drugs worth Rs. 12 crores.

The author is a student member of the Amity Centre of Happiness.