Tollywood Drugs Case: Rakul Preet Singh Appears Before ED

Rakul Preet Singh, an actress, was called by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Friday as part of a money laundering investigation into a high-end narcotics network seized in the city in 2017. The ED had previously summoned around ten Tollywood celebrities in connection with a spectacular scam involving the sale of high-end drugs such as LSD and MDMA, which was busted by Telangana's Prohibition and Excise department.

Earlier, the ED had questioned Telugu director Puri Jagannadh and actress Charmee Kaur. In July 2017, the smuggling operation was uncovered, and over 20 persons were arrested, including a US citizen who was a former NASA aerospace engineer, a Dutch national, and a South African national, as well as seven B.Tech degree holders working for multinational corporations.

During the interrogation of those arrested in connection with the scam, the names of certain Tollywood celebrities were revealed. As part of its investigation, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana's Prohibition and Excise department questioned 11 people related to the Telugu film industry, including actors and directors, as well as the driver of one of the actors, and gathered hair and nail samples.

The SIT interrogated them to see if they had any links to the scam, either as customers or suppliers or to those arrested. Tollywood celebrities who were questioned by the SIT were called by the ED and ordered to appear before it. Rakul Preet, on the other hand, was questioned by SIT at the time. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) questioned her last year as part of the narcotics investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput's death.