Hyderabad drug haul case: Director Puri Jagannath appears before Excise dept

Schools and colleges in Hyderabad have been issued notices to keep vigil about students using narcotics

Prominent Telugu filmmaker Puri Jagannath appeared before the officials of the Excise department in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The Tollywood film director was one of the twelve celebrities who were issued notices in connection with the recent drug racket busted by agencies.

Puri Jagannath, an award winning film director who has worked with leading stars of the Telugu film industry arrived at the Excise department's office with his brother and son. The special task force that is probing the massive drug racket chanced upon the names of people from the Telugu film industry after accessing contact and call record details of peddlers. So far, twelve people have been arrested for peddling, possessing and pushing narcotics to clients including school and college students.

The department had issued notices to celebrities asking them to appear between July 19 and 27. Those summoned also includes two women. While many who received the notices claimed that they did neither knew the peddlers nor used drugs, the excise department officials have termed the questioning a part of ongoing investigations.

Calvin Mascarenhas, the prime accused in the racket gave out names of his clients, that also included people from the film industry. Each accused used multiple sim cards and the prime accused alone has close to 1,500 contacts, all suspected to be drug users.

Notices are likely to be issued to others from the industry after the officials wrap up first round of questioning of those who have been summoned.

OneIndia News