What happened to dramatic Tollywood drug bust? Two years on, investigation crawls

An RTI shows that though 62 people were questioned, only 12 cases were registered and four chargesheets were filed.
What happened to dramatic Tollywood drug bust? Two years on, investigation crawls
What happened to dramatic Tollywood drug bust? Two years on, investigation crawls
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It was in June 2017 that a sensational drug racket was busted by authorities in Hyderabad, in which about 1,000 students from leading private schools and colleges in the city were found to be using high-end drugs such as Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

The racket had also exposed the dark underbelly of Tollywood, as the dealers were also supplying drugs to several personalities from the Telugu film industry. This included prominent names like popular director Puri Jagannadh and actor Ravi Teja, who were summoned and questioned by authorities after their names cropped up in the call data of Calvin Mascarenhas, the alleged kingpin of the drug racket.

However, close to two years later, officials have barely made any progress in the case as many chargesheets are yet to be filed. Many of the main accused in the case, including Calvin, are also out on bail.

An RTI query filed by M Padmanabha Reddy of the Forum for Good Governance shows that at least 62 people were questioned related to the bust, but only 12 cases have been registered and four chargesheets filed by officials.

“It is clear that in the last two years they have only booked cases against the minor people involved, though there were enough clues as to who the intermediaries they were supplying to were. It is an eyewash. Four chargesheets have been filed only on persons who were caught bringing the material to Hyderabad but not on any of those who supplied them or on the consumers. Though they know who the people are, they are not taking action,” Padmanabha Reddy told TNM.

Besides Puri and Ravi Teja, others including actors P Navdeep, Charmee Kaur and Mumaith Khan, cinematographer Shyam K Naidu, character artist Subbaraju and singer Ananda Krishna Nandu were also summoned. However, no chargesheet was filed against any of them.

Padmanabha points out that then Movie Artists’ Association (MAA) President Sivaji Raja had met Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, following which the former warned artists publicly against drug abuse and asked them to mend their ways.

“There seems to be political will to bury the case, because after the meeting the state government seems to have decided not to interfere and let the film industry sort out the issue internally,” Padmanabha alleges.

In a letter to Chief Secretary SK Joshi last week, Padmanabha wrote, “Now nearly two years of unearthing the cases, there is little progress in the investigation. There are some fundamental flaws in dealing with the case leading to escape of accused... After recording the statements of 62 persons and collecting nail and hair samples and creating lot of hype in the media, the SIT failed to bring the case to its logical conclusion. (sic)”

Another issue is that the SIT consists of two relatively junior officers – G Srinivasa Rao, Prohibition and Excise Inspector, as enquiry officer and S Srinivasa Rao, Superintendent Prohibition and Excise, Suryapet as supervisory officer.

Pointing out that generally whenever an SIT is constituted, it is headed by a senior officer, Padmanabha wrote, “The SIT with these two junior officers failed to go into the depths of the case and booked the culprits who are working as intermediaries and not the end users like film personalities and students in corporate schools. The investigating officer is quite junior to book heavyweights like film personalities and corporate schools who have political clout.”

The Forum for Good Governance requested the Chief Secretary to review the case and transfer it to another agency for a detailed enquiry under the supervision of a competent, senior officer.

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