Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) late on Saturday arrested comedian Bharti Singh for alleged possession and consumption of banned drugs after NCB raided her home and office this morning. Meanwhile, her husband Harsh Limbachiya is being quizzed by the officials.
"We have arrested Bharti Singh and found a little over 86 gms of marijuana from her. Her husband Harsh Limbachiya is currently being interrogated by NCB. We shall inform you of further developments," NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede informed.
The banned drug (Marijuana), said to be of commercial quantity, was recovered from their home in the raids and they duo have reportedly confessed to consuming drugs.
Both Bharti and her husband accepted consumption of Ganja, NCB official informed.
NCB on Saturday raided the homes of comedienne Bharati Singh and her husband Harsh Limbachiya. The NCB teams landed at their premises in Andheri, Lokhandwala Complex and Versova areas and were carrying out search operations, details of which were awaited.
On reaching the NCB offices, an apparently unruffled Bharti Singh briefly told mediapersons that they had been "called for some questioning".
However, after a sustained interrogation round of nearly five hours, late this evening, Bharti was placed under arrest, while hubby Harsh was still being grilled by the sleuths.
Bharti shall be produced before a designated court on Sunday, though it is not clear whether it will be a physical appearance or via videoconference.
Both Bharti and Harsh are well-known comedians, television personalities producing or hosting programmes, besides appearing in reality shows like 'Khatron Ka Khiladi', 'Kapil Sharma Show', and other tele-serials.
The latest action is part of the ongoing investigations into Bollywood-drugs mafia nexus which the NCB is trying to unravel since the past three months or so.
From September till date, the NCB has arrested over two dozen persons including Bollywood actress Rhea Chakbraborty, now on bail, her brother Showik, still in jail, and other film industry related persons, drug financers, suppliers or peddlers, including some foreigners.
As the NCB claims to have unearthed a close link between drugs mafia and the glamour industry, it has questioned several prominent film personalities, amid speculation that several big names may be on its dreaded 'hit-list'.
Among those probed so far include actresses Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, model-cum-actor Arjun Rampal, and filmmaker Firoz Nadiadwala, whose wife Shabana was arrested and got bail after some quantities of 'commercial quantity' drugs were found at her residence, and the latest is Bharti Singh.
The NCB investigations are an off-shoot of the probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead at his Bandra home on June 14 which sparked off a huge political controversy.
(With IANS Inputs)