NCB summoned Deepika, Rakul,Shradha,Sara Ali in drugs probe

Film Actors Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh have been summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a stunning twist to the drugs probe linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation. They have been asked to appear in the next three days.Deepika Padukone has been summoned on Friday and the rest will be questioned on Thursday.

These are the most high-profile names to come up in a widening probe into the link between drugs and the film industry, which emerged during the investigations into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14. Deepika Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash had been questioned in a case that the Narcotics Control Bureau had filed on the basis of WhatsApp messages retrieved from Rhea Chakraborty's mobile phone, which revealed conversations on procuring drugs. According to news agency investigators have found WhatsApp messages on Karishma Prakash's phone, which reveal a conversation between one "D" and "K" on arranging drugs.

In the meantime,the Centre has empowered the anti-terror probe agency, National Investigation Agency (NIA), to investigate narco-terrorism related cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.The notification issued by the Finance Ministry reads, “In exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 53 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the central government, after consultation with the state government, hereby invests the officers of and above the rank of inspectors in the NIA constituted under NIA Act 2008 to exercise the power and perform duties specified in sub-section (1) of that section, within the area of their jurisdiction.” It is said that this notification was much needed, especially in the context of narco-terrorism related cases from Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab..