Anuj Keswani held for drug peddling sent to 5-day NCB custody

Mumbai's Esplanade court on Monday sent Anuj Keswani, who has been arrested for alleged drug peddling, to 5-day Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody.

Mumbai's Esplanade court on Monday sent Anuj Kesw, who has been arrested for alleged drug peddling, to 5-day Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody.

Kesw was apprehended after his name came up during the interrogation of Kaizen Ibrahim, who were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in a case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

The court had earlier sent Kaizen Ibrahim, who was arrested in the same case, to 14-day judicial custody.

Zaid Vilatra, an alleged drug peddler was arrested after NCB uncovered his linkages with Abbas Lakh, who was apprehended after a raid in which bud (curated marijuana) was seized from him.

In the Esplanade Court on September 3, the NCB argued that Vilatra was arrested in connection with the actor's death.

While arguing the remand application of Vilatra on Thursday, the Special Public Prosecutor for the NCB told the Magistrate that the drug case is connected to Rajput's death case.

Meanwhile, Vilatra and Abdul Basit Parihar, who were held in the same case have applied for bail in Mumbai Sessions Court. Vilatra has been sent to the NCB custody till September 9. Their lawyer Tarak Sayyad also reached the NCB office to serve them a notice for the same.

Parihar was arrested based on Vilatra's statement. Later, Ibrahim was nabbed after Parihar's statement.

According to the NCB, Vilatra disclosed that he has been into drug peddling especially bud (curated marijuana), through which he used to earn a substantial amount of money.

The NCB launched an investigation after it received official communication from Enforcement Directorate (ED), in which there were various chats related to drug consumption, procurement, usage and transportation in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput case.

The agency had said that linkages of Parihar with the earlier registered cases i.e., based on the preliminary enquiry on the details submitted by ED, were found.

The ED had on July 31 registered an Enforcement Case Information Report in the late actor's death case after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed by Rajput's father KK Singh against Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar on July 28.

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14.

( With inputs from ANI )