Tollywood drugs case: Telugu actor Tarun appears before ED

Hyderabad, Sep 22: Telugu actor Tarun is the latest personality from Tollywood to appear before Enforcement Directorate (ED) over a money-laundering probe in connection with a high-end drugs racket that was busted in the city in 2017.

Before Tarun, Rana Daggubati, Ravi Teja, Rakul Preet Singh, filmmaker Puri Jagannath, actresses Charmee Kaur, Mumaith Khan, Nanda, Navdeep and Tanish had appeared before the ED.

The Telangana's Prohibition and Excise department had filed several cases in connection with drug trafficking in 2017 after bursting a drug racket. A Special Investigation Team was formed to probe the film industry's links with drugs. It has questioned over 11 people from Tollywood.

The celebrities who were questioned by the SIT are now being asked to appear before the ED. The racket supplied high-end drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), and it is suspected that people from the film industry, employees of MNCs and college students were among their customers.

Several cases related to drug trafficking were registered and over 20 people were arrested including a US citizen, who was a former aerospace engineer and had worked with NASA, a Dutch national, a South African national besides seven B.Tech degree holders employed with multi-national companies here, PTI reports.

Orders were placed through the 'Darknet' (secretive websites or online networks) and the drugs were delivered by courier including from overseas, the investigators had said.