Popular Telugu film actor Ravi Teja on Friday appeared before the Telangana Prohibition and Excise Department’s special investigation team (SIT) in connection with a high-end online drug racket busted by it in Hyderabad on July 2.
Teja is among the 12 personalities, including directors and actors, from the Telugu film industry summoned by the SIT, which is questioning several people as part of cases registered in connection with the racket.
The actor, who is popularly called as ‘Mass Maharaja’ by his fans, has featured in many films, including “Amma Naana O Tamila Ammayi”, “Dubai Seenu”, “Kick” and “Don Seenu”.
His family members had said he does not take drugs.
Teja has acted in several movies directed by Puri Jagannadh, who was the first person from the film industry to be questioned recently.
During the investigation, names of some members of the film industry cropped up, the SIT had said.
Since July 19, the SIT had also questioned cinematographer Shyam K. Naidu, actors P. Subba Raju, Tarun Kumar and P. Navdeep, actresses Charmi Kaur and Mumaith Khan, and art director Dharma Rao alias Chinna.
Two days back, the SIT arrested Dutch national Mike Kamminga (33) in connection with the case and claimed to have seized psychotropic substances from him.
SIT sleuths on Thursday conducted raids in different parts of Hyderabad.
Excise officials have so far arrested 20 people, including U.S. citizen Dundu Anish, a former aerospace engineer who has worked with the NASA, and seven BTech degree-holders employed with multi-national companies in the city.
As a part of the racket, high-end drugs like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) were supplied. The investigators suspect that film personalities, employees of MNCs, school and college students were among the clients.
The racketeers placed orders through ‘Darknet’ (a restricted online network frequently used in illegal activities) and the drugs were delivered by couriers, including from overseas, officials said.
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