Sandalwood drugs case: CCB raids Ricky Rai's residence in connection with drug case

Bengaluru, Oct 06: Officials of the Central Crime Branch (CCB), investigating the drug case, carried out searches at various premises belonging to Ricky Rai and in other parts of the state, police said on Tuesday. Ricky Rai is the son of "reformed" underworld don Muthappa Rai, who died in May this year due to brain cancer.

According to reports, the raids were conducted at Rai's sprawling farmhouse in Bidadi in Ramanagara district and a flat in Sadashivanagar, Bengaluru. The case pertains to drug abuse among bigwigs including Kannada film actors Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, rave party organiser Viren Khanna and realtor Rahul Thonse.

A few key accused in the case, including former minister Late Jeevaraj Alva's son Aditya Alva are at large. The CCB is investigating the drug abuse case after the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested three people hailing from Kerala in Bengaluru, who were allegedly supplying drugs to Kannada film actors and singers last month.

Earlier, the CCB police raided five pubs in the city as part of its crackdown against the drug menace. The searches were carried out on Saturday night.

"In the drugs case investigation, we found that generally drugs are taken in some pubs. So, search warrants were taken and five pubs searched yesterday night," Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said in a brief statement on Sunday.