Drug racket case: Cameraman Shyam Naidu appears before SIT

Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team of the Department of Prohibition and Excise on Thursday questioned Shyam K. Naidu, a cameraman from the film industry, as part of its inquiry to collect evidence against Calvin Mascarenhas, the prime accused in the drug racket. 

As per the notice issued by the SIT under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, Mr Naidu appeared before officials at Abkari Bhavan at 9.30 am, along with his advocate and associates. 

Officials began questioning him at 10.30 am and the interrogation continued for five-and-a-half hours. He was asked questions about drug addiction, drug culture in the film industry, a pub in Gachibowli, Puri Jagannath, and Calvin’s ties with the film industry. 

According to sources, his responses to most questions were “No” and “I don’t know”. 

Dr R.V. Chandravadan, the Commissioner of the Department of Prohibition and Excise, said that Mr Naidu had co-operated with the SIT. He said that P. Subbaraju would be questioned on Friday.

“The SIT is investigating the case in depth to collect strong evidence,” he said.  Mr Chandravadan sent letters to the Commissioner of School Education, the Commissioner of Collegiate Education, the Commissioner of Intermediate Education, the Director of Technical Education and the Special Chief Secretary of Higher Education, asking them to implement precautionary measurements and increase surveillance at educational institutions to prevent the spread of drug culture.

Three courier agencies – DHL, Blue Dart and FedEx received notices from the SIT on Wednesday. Representatives of the agencies appeared before Excise officials on Thursday. They promised to cooperate with the SIT by sharing any evidence in their possession, including CCTV footage related to the drug cases. The SIT issued instructions to the agencies with guidelines to avoid the delivery of narcotics.