Hyderabad drug racket : Officer probing case postpones leave

Hyderabad, July 15 (IANS): A top police officer who is probing a drug racket allegedly involving several personalities from the Telugu film industry on Saturday postponed his leave amid speculation he is under pressure from some politicians.

Akun Sabharwal, director enforcement, Department of Prohibition and Excise of Telangana Government, had applied for 10-day leave from July 16 citing personal reasons.

With opposition parties claiming that he was under pressure from the government to go slow on the probe against some accused, the officer decided not to go on leave till the completion of the inquiry.

The officer, however, clarified that he was under no pressure and that the government is giving him full support. He said the leave was sanctioned two months ago but he decided not to proceed on leave in view of the importance of the case.

The case took a dramatic turn this week with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) serving notices to about a dozen of Tollywood personalities, directing them to appear before it between July 19 and 27.

SIT officials called the Tollywood actors, actresses and other artists for questioning after their contact numbers were found in the call list of Calvin Mascarenhas, the alleged kingpin of the drugs racket.

Actors Navdeep and Subbaraju on Friday confirmed that they received notices but denied using the substance.

SIT has so far arrested 13 people.

The drug racket was busted earlier this month with the arrest of Calvin and others. The accused had been selling drugs to students of several colleges and schools in Hyderabad.

The officials said as many as 1,000 students, some as young as 13, were identified as drug abusers. The managements of over 50 schools and colleges were served notices by the authorities, who asked them to take necessary measures to control the menace.