Mumbai: Actor Ananya Panday’s Mumbai home has been raided by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and she has been called for questioning by the anti-drugs agency.
The actor’s name reportedly featured in the WhatsApp chats of one of the accused in the drugs-on-cruise case, in which Aryan Khan was arrested along with 19 others earlier this month.
Ananya Panday, 22, debuted in films in 2019 and has since been counted in the big league with several high profile projects. She is the daughter of actor Chunky Panday and Bhavana Pandey.
Ananya Panday and Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of Shah Rukh Khan, are part of a group of star children who have been known to socialise together. They have a common circle of friends and Ananya and Aryan’s sister Suhana are best friends.
The NCB’s raid signals that the anti-drugs agency is going for the A-list in its investigations on an alleged “Bollywood-drugs link”. Over the past year, several high profile actors have been questioned in connection with a drugs angle that emerged in the Sushant Singh Rajput death investigations.
Aryan khan has been in jail since October 8 and was denied bail yesterday by a court that said his WhatsApp chat revealed his involvement in “illicit drug activities”.
Though Aryan Khan’s lawyers said nothing was found on him, the court said six grams of charas was hidden in his friend Arbaaz Merchant’s shoe, and it seemed Aryan Khan knew about it, so “it can be said that it was in conscious possession of both the accused”.
The special court said: “WhatsApp chats prima facie reveals accused Aryan Khan is dealing in illicit drug activities for narcotic substances on regular basis.”
It also said the chats revealed a “nexus of the Accused no 1 (Aryan Khan) with suppliers and peddlers”.
“Evidence on record shows the accused are part of a larger network. Since accused are part of the conspiracy, each of them is liable for the entire quantity of drugs seized. And that the case of each accused can’t be segregated from each other and can’t be considered in isolation”.
