Accused turns approver in comedian Bharti Singh drugs case

MUMBAI: An accused in the 2020 drugs case against comedian Bharti Singh and her husband, Haarsh Limbachiyaa, has turned approver and will depose as a prosecution witness. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in its recently filed chargesheet against the couple, cited the statement of the accused-turned-approver Sowmiyanarayanan (23), a Bandra (E) musician, recorded before a magistrate's court.
Sowmiyanarayanan told the NCB that on his friend Tushar Shetty's request he had procured ganja from a peddler for his friend. Sowmiyanarayanan said he did not know Shetty's friend. Sowmiyanarayanan said he went and gave the packet near Andheri Telephone Exchange to a person who came on a bike wearing a mask and a helmet.
The NCB's case is that the payment for the gamja, Rs 7,600, was made by one of Limbachiyaa's employees, Diksha Sahani. Sowmiyanarayanan said that he withdrew the money from an ATM to give to the peddler who gave him drugs.
Referring to call data records, the NCB in its chargesheet said that on the day of the delivery of the drugs, Sowmiyanarayanan was in constant touch with Shetty and one Kusha Jena, also known as Munna, Limbachiyaa's house staff. The NCB said that the CDR corroborated the approver's statement.
Jena in his statement to the NCB allegedly said that on Limbachiyaa's instructions he took delivery of a packet at Mhada signal, Andheri West, from a person whose name was not known to him. "He also informed that he had seen... Limbachiyaa consume substance of said packet... on several times," the NCB alleged. It cited the statement of another of Limbachiyaa's colleagues who claimed to have smoked joints with Limbachiyaa during late night work at the latter's production company.
Also part of the chargesheet are the couple's statements. "On being asked I have to say that I am aware that smoking ganja or weed is a crime but I am used to it for relieving my stress. I consume weed joints along with Bharti twice in a week...," the statement made by Limbachiyaa said. He said he used to send his office boy Munna (Jena) for the drugs packets.
The chargesheet said that Singh in her "voluntary statement" had stated that for the first time she had smoked ganja with her husband.