BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Police on Wednesday issued a notice to Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi to appear for questioning in connection with the drug abuse case. Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil has informed that Ragini and her friend, who is a government employee, were issued summons. They are to appear at the Central Crime Branch's headquarters in Chamarajpet on Thursday.

The CCB issued these summons after filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh submitted a list of Sandalwood celebrities to the sleuths. He claimed that the names figuring in the list are avid users of synthetic drugs. The CCB suspects that the actress and her friend may have attended several parties together and might have consumed drugs. Indrajit Lankesh was also summoned once earlier for questioning.

However, the CCB has asked him to furnish proof of his allegations of drug abuse in Sandalwood. The CCB has meanwhile begun conducting surprise checks on vehicles. On Wednesday, vehicles at the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus terminal in Majestic were checked. This was after the CCB suspected an inter-state drug racket. Both state-run and private vehicles were searched at various checkpoints in the city too.

According to Sandeep Patil, the drug peddlers who were arrested allegedly confessed that the product was brought into the city via buses and trains late into the night to avoid detection.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) has said that it will take action against actors and technicians consuming or selling drugs. The KFCC's members met on Wednesday and its President DR Jayaraj said that the body would report those consuming drugs to the police. “If any actor or any member of the film industry is proven guilty of having consumed drugs or sold them, the chamber will initiate action against them," Jayaraj added.

Jayaraj also maintained that it was wrong to blame the entire industry for mistakes of a few.

The current drug bust started on August 20 when the Narcotics Control Bureau conducted raids in Navi Mumbai and seized over 3000 MDMA pills. Following this, the NCB arrested a couple- H A Choudhary and R Batharey. The NCB then raided the residences of three drug peddlers in Bengaluru.

(With inputs from agencies)