Drug bust puts Tollywood back in focus

Hyderabad: Actor Navdeep and film producer Ravi Uppalapati’s names cropped up as drug users in a racket, facilitated by famous pubs in the city, unearthed by the police on Thursday. Devarakonda Suresh Rao, son of former Mahbubnagar MP Dande Vittal Rao, Tollywood director Anugu Sushanth Reddy and six others, including three Nigerian drug suppliers, were arrested by the Telangana State Narcotics Bureau (TS NAB).

The police said the drug racket took place on pub premises and involved more Tollywood personalities.

“Actor Navdeep, Ravi, Kalahar Reddy and five more persons who are associated with this racket are absconding, along with their families. A search is on to trace them at the earliest,” said Hyderabad police commissioner C.V. Anand.

The police said that Navdeep’s name had cropped up in the infamous Tollywood drug scandal of 2017 too, as he was among 15 Tollywood celebrities questioned by a special investigation team. The case was later taken up by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The police said the action comes in the backdrop of probing contacts of arrested film producer K. Venkatratna Reddy, ex-Navy man B. Balaji and railway employee D. Murali, who were arrested in a recent raid.

Analysis of Balaji’s data led them to Kolli Ramchand, a businessman, and the other accused, identified as Kurapati Sandeep, a marketing manager with Dismutase Bio-Tech, Pagalla Srikar Krishna Praneeth, a businessman, Ramchand, who owns nurseries, and three Nigerian drug peddlers, Amobi Chukwudi Muonagolu, Igbawre Micheal and Thomas Anagha Kalu.

The police seized 50 grams of MDMA, 24 ecstasy pills and eight grams of cocaine, worth a combined Rs 10 lakh, from the accused. 

The police said that Muonagolu came to Bengaluru three years ago on a business visa, became a member of a football club and started selling drugs. He is allegedly involved in drug cases in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Micheal came to India on a medical visa, became friends with Muonagolu, purchased drugs from local Nigerians at lower prices and sold them to Bengaluru and Hyderabad locals for higher prices. The third Nigerian national, Thomas Anagha Kalu, arrived in Mumbai in 2015 on a business visa and has been residing in Bengaluru since, the police said.

“This gang was regularly supplying drugs to the locals who were arrested on Thursday and also to Balaji, who was arrested two weeks ago,” an investigator said.

Police said Muonagolu was found purchasing drugs from another Nigerian national, Kewly, who recently moved back to Nigeria, while the other two purchased drugs from different persons.

Muonagolu is also a member of All India Nigerian Students & Community Association, Bengaluru. and helps their community members by raising funds under the trust called ‘Help for Bookie & Innocent’ for expenses like deportation, bail and other legal services.

He and his associates procured WhatsApp numbers of consumers by sending attractive messages through other Nigerian phone numbers, which started with +234. 

When the trio came to Hyderabad to deliver drugs to their clients, TS NAB sleuths nabbed them and the consumers. The main drug supplier, identified as Ben Frank Wilson alias Benard, is at large said TSNAB SP D. Sunitha Reddy and DSP K. Narsing Rao, who supervised the operation.

Responding to the police's claims that his name cropped up in the drug consumers list, actor Navdeep claimed it was not him. "That's not me gentlemen.. I'm right here .. pls clarify thanks" he wrote on X.