In the biggest ever drug bust of recent times, the world of cinematic glamour is hard hit. The king pin in the racket Calvin Mascarenhas has spilled the beans and the police are tightening the net on the possible offenders. A long list of Tollywood stars have received summons as the enquiry is in under way and it is very sad indeed. While some are appearing to clear their stand, there are others denying that they have received any notice. Some big names that the excise department has let out are Ravi Teja, Tarun Navdeep, Tanish, Nandu, Subba Raju, Charmme Kaur and Mumaith Khan. Others include Director Puri Jaganath, Cameraman Shyam Naidu etc. They will be appearing for the questioning.
Akun Sabharwal, the director of the Excise Department has pointed out that the said personalities had their contact numbers on Calvin Mascarenhas’s phone. They are being called to clarify their contact and relationship with him. While the Tollywood fame is taking a blow, it is necessary to rid the evil. The drug bust has opened the racket and it’s modus operandi. Even schools are not safe from the drug peddlers. The possibility of these public images being tarnished exposes not only the ugly side to the colourful world of cinema but also the twisted effect on the people who ape the stars. The summons are based on the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act.
How the drug bust happened after all? The Prohibition and Excise Department officials were able to bust the racket by going undercover. A Decoy Operation was mounted and the offender Calvin caught red-handed. Officials posed as clients and penetrated the nexus by being deep into it. Nothing short of heroic, the efforts have paid off and the wide network of the druggie has fallen apart.
The names of film personalities getting mired in drug controversies is not new and 2010, 2011 and 2015 had news of raids being conducted and big names popping up on the scanner. The questioning will soon bring out the offenders and it remains to be seen which are the big names in the who-done-it affair.
Source – The Indian Express
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