CCB arrests Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi for Sandalwood racket

Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in connection with the Sandalwood drug racket case. On September 4, the CCB officers raided her house in Yelahanka in Bengaluru for four hours and detained her. She was brought to CCB headquarters for questioning. After several hours of questioning, Ragini was placed under arrest. She has been booked under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act.

The court granted three days of police custody for Ragini. She was produced before the magistrate via video conference. Later, the actor was taken to a government hospital for a medical check-up as per protocol.

In the search conducted at Ragini Dwivedi's home, many important materials were seized. The police have also arrested Viren Khanna, who is one of the main accused in the racket. Viren is the one who organises big parties where drugs are consumed. He hails from Delhi. Two Central Crime Branch police officers went to Delhi and arrested him.

So far, the CCB has arrested four people in connection with the Sandalwood drug case. Ravi Shankar, Rahul, Ragini Dwivedi and Viren Khanna are the four people who have been arrested so far. More arrests are likely to follow.

Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant, in a press meet, said that they have been following the case for the past one month. While they were investigating another case, they stumbled upon a lead regarding Ravi Shankar, a clerk at the Jayanagar RTO office. He is close friends with Ragini.

Ravi Shankar, a prominent drug peddler, was arrested by the cops in the last week of August this year. Based on the chat messages between Ravi and Ragini, Ragini was summoned by the CCB on September 3. Taking to Instagram, Ragini said that she received the summons at a short notice, because of which she couldn't appear in front of the CCB. She further added that her advocates met the officers on behalf of her.

On August 21, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested several drug peddlers in the city. Based on a lead, they had arrested Ravi Shankar and Rahul, who seemed to have connections to actors, businessmen and others.