The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) suspended two of its officers, who were investigating cases related to the drug scandal that has been in the news ever since the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The two officials are Investigation Officers (IO) were suspected to have helped some accused, including Bharti Singh, her husband Harsh Limbachiyaa and actor Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash, to secure bail in the ongoing drugs probe against them.
According to sources, along with the two officers, NCB's prosecutor is also under the scanner. The investigating officers and the public prosecutor failed to appear during a scheduled bail hearing in the two cases following which bail was granted to the accused in both the cases.
Later, the Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede from NCB found the role of the two IOs suspicious, which eventually helped the accused in securing bail. The report was shared with the NCB headquarters and following the prima facie findings, the two IOs were placed under suspension pending departmental inquiry. Sources also said that the NCB could rope in another public prosecutor who would represent the department in courts replacing the present one.
The anti-drugs agency has now challenged the bail granted to Bharti Singh and her husband in the NDPS special court. The two were arrested within hours of each other on November 21 after their names surfaced during the interrogation of a drug dealer. Consequently, their home was searched and a small quantity of marijuana recovered. They were granted bail after two days.
These officers are also suspected to have helped Karishma Prakash get protection from arrest while being questioned by the NCB, sources said.
NCB had conducted searches at the residence of Karishma Prakash on October 27 following information from an arrested drug peddler. Though she wasn’t present at the residence when the search happened, it was conducted by NCB officials in the presence of her neighbours and 1.7 grams of hashish was recovered.
The bureau's probe started earlier this year when, during investigations into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death in June, WhatsApp chats involving drugs were found on the phone of his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, also an actor.
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