On Thursday, Priyanka Alva, wife of Vivek Oberoi, was served a notice by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) Bengaluru to appear before them on Friday. This was in regard to her brother Aditya Alva, one of the prime accused in the Sandalwood drug cases, who has been absconding for weeks. However, Priyanka failed to acknowledge the summons and did not appear before the CCB as instructed. “We need to question Ms. Alva as we suspect she is aware of the whereabouts of her brother. She has not honoured the summons to appear on Friday. We will again issue summons to her,” a senior CCB official said.
The notice was served after the Bengaluru police raided Vivek Oberoi’s Mumbai residence, after receiving a tip-off that the absconding Aditya might be hiding there. “We had reason to believe that Aditya Alva was in Mumbai. Besides, we also wanted to question his relatives there regarding his whereabouts,” a CCB source said.
Bengaluru Police have been looking for Aditya for over a month, since the crackdown on drugs and narcotic substances began in the city. Allegedly, several of the accused in the Sandalwood drug cases attended rave parties that were held at a farmhouse owned by him in the outskirts of Bengaluru, where drugs were supplied and consumed. The police conducted raids on properties where rave parties were allegedly held.
After the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested three people in Bengaluru with a drug haul two months ago, Bengaluru Police cracked down on drug traffickers, peddlers and consumers. More than 15 people have been arrested by the police in connection with the cases. Among them are Sandalwood actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani, party organiser Viren Khanna and realtor Rahul Thonse.