Ragini is second accused in Bengaluru drug racket case

Bengaluru: A day after her arrest, the Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru police Saturday named Sandalwood actor Ragini Dwivedi as the second accused in a First Information Report (FIR) that included the names of 11 others.

After the initial investigation, the police named Shivaprakash alias Chippi as the prime accused. Ragini Dwivedi and high-profile party planner Viren Khanna are the second and third accused persons in the case. Others named in the FIR include Prashant Ranka, Vaibhav Jain, Aditya Alva, Loum Pepper Samba, Prashant Raju, Ashwin alias Boogie, Abhiswamy, Rahul Tonse, Vinay and others.

However, Ragini Dwivedi’s friend Ravi Shankar and another arrested person Rahul Shetty have not been named in this FIR.

On Saturday, the CCB arrested Loum Pepper Samba, who was allegedly distributing drugs to the celebrities and their associates.

Ragini Dwivedi and the other accused have been booked under section 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections 21 (possession, purchase or uses any manufactured drug or any preparation containing any manufactured drug shall be punishable), 21(c) (rigorous imprisonment not less than 10 years), 27a (punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders), 27b (consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance) and 29 (Whoever abets, or is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence is punishable) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. 

“This is a big network of drug peddling and consumption. There are people like Viren Khanna who organise high-end parties where drugs are consumed. Celebrities and others like actress Ragini go there and consume drugs. There are suppliers like Ravi Shankar and Rahul who supply drugs bought from other peddlers, mostly foreigners,” the police said.

The police also said “important material and documents which are relevant to the ongoing investigation” were seized during the raid on Ragini’s flat.

Meanwhile, the name of another actor surfaced in the ongoing probe and the police are investigating. However, the actor has threatened to reveal the names of top police officials and VIPs who attend high profile parties.