Bollywood drugs nexus: NCB grills Arjun Rampal for second time

MUMBAI: For the second time in a month, the Narcotics Control Bureau on Monday grilled model-turned-actor Arjun Rampal in the ongoing probe into the drugs nexus with Bollywood being probed by the central agency, officials said here.

Rampal, 47, was summoned last week, but he had written to the NCB seeking time till December 22, citing some 'personal' commitments.

Earlier, he was interrogated for nearly 7 hours on November 13 after the NCB raided his home and took away nearly a dozen electronic gadgets besides some (medical) tablets.

Later, he had told mediapersons that he has handed over a medical prescription of a particular painkiller which the NCB took up for prescription.

Besides Rampal, the NCB has questioned his South African girlfriend Gabriella Demetriades and her brother Agisialos Demetriades, who was arrested and later secured bail.

As the drug probe shifted the needle to the involvement of other foreign nationals, another of Rampal's friends, Australian Paul Bartel, was arrested last month.

Unravelling the Bollywood-drugs mafia links, the NCB has arrested more than two dozen people so far, including film personalities, drug peddlers, financers, suppliers, etc.At one point during the probe, an NCB team was attacked on November 23 by some drug-peddlers in Goregaon and earlier in December, two NCB officials were suspended pending a probe into alleged 'lapses' into their conduct.

Several other prominent film personalities such as Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh, Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiya, besides some other industry professionals have been questioned, and last week, the NCB has issued summons to film-maker Karan Johar.

The NCB initiated the high-profile probe into the Bollywood drugs angle after the June 14 death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in Bandra, Mumbai.

Ranked as an A-lister, Rampal has acted in several films like "Om Shanti Om", "Rock On!", "Pyaar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat", "Raajneeti", "Housefull", and other blockbusters.