Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who has been under the scanner of the Narcotic Control Bureau for the alleged role in the Bollywood drug mafia case, had categorically denied consuming or procuring drugs during her questioning by the department on Saturday. Now Aaj Tak has revealed that the Padmavat actor, during the interrogation had come up with some bizarre claims.
When confronted with her Whatsapp chats by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Padukone stated that by ‘Maal’ she meant cigarettes and ‘Hash’ referred to the different brands of cigarettes.
#BREAKING
— AajTak (@aajtak) September 28, 2020
दीपिका पादुकोण का दावा- हम सिगरेट को कोड में ‘माल’ कहते हैं
लाइव: https://t.co/fOz5QPkk43#DeepikaPadukone #Mumbai #NCB | @ShamsTahirKhan @anjanaomkashyap pic.twitter.com/lFJeMFKuUk
According to the news channel, the NCB opined that all the three actors, namely Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor, who were questioned on Saturday, were very well trained and apprised in advance as to what needed to be said during the interrogation. All three spoke in an extremely calculated manner as if they had been briefed beforehand, on what needed to be said in front of the investigative department.
Jaya Shah, Krishna Prakash also made equally bizarre claims
Interestingly, talent manager Jaya Saha, who is being termed as the ‘kingpin’ of the case, had also stated that the terms ‘doobies’ and ‘buds’ in the drug chats referred to cigarettes. Moreover, Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash, during her round of questioning had also claimed that ‘hash’ was ‘not a drug’.
It may be recalled that in the WhatsApp conversations, Deepika was allegedly asking for ‘maal’- hash (or hashish, drug made from cannabis plant) from a certain person named ‘K’, her manager, Karishma Prakash, who is also employed with KWAN, the talent management agency that manages the actor.
Deepika Padukone grilled for over 5 hours on Saturday
Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone was put through the wringer by the Narcotics Control Bureau, as she was grilled for over 5 hours on Saturday. It was reported how Deepika Padukone had accepted being part of the Whatsapp group but had maintained a stoic silence on the drugs issue.
Meanwhile, Karishma Prakash during her first-day interrogation on Friday, accepted that Deepika was the admin of the WhatsApp group.
NCB seizes phones as the alleged ‘drug’ chats were made using the same phones
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which quizzed the Bollywood actor Rakul Preet Singh, Deepika Padukone, her manager and the employee of the dubious Kwan talent management agency- Karishma Prakash, and fashion designer Simone Khambatta on Friday and Saturday in connection with the drugs case related to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has seized their mobile phones. The agency had collected their phones as the alleged ‘drug’ chats were made using the same phones, the source said.
The source also said that the NCB has collected the phone of Sushant’s former talent manager Jaya Saha.
Besides Deepika, Rakul, Khambatta and Karishma, the NCB also questioned Bollywood actors Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan on Saturday for several hours.
