Sushant Singh Rajput case: NCB summons producer Madhu Mantena to join drug-related probe with Jaya Saha, Shruti Modi

Deputy director of NCB KPS Malhotra denied reports of KWAN employee and actor Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash being summoned by the agency. “No summons have been issued to Prakash. But we will summon her later this week,” he said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has summoned film producer Madhu Mantena on Wednesday along with Sushant Singh Rajput’s former talent manager Jaya Saha and his ex-manager Shruti Modi for questioning in connection with the drug-related probe in the Bollywood actor’s death case, news agency ANI reported.

Producer Madhu Mantena Varma seen at a club in Mumbai’s Juhu (IANS File Photo)

Saha has been called for the third round of questioning while Modi will be quizzed for the second time on Wednesday. The duo was first summoned on September 16 but the questioning was postponed after one of the members of the investigating team tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Earlier in the day, the central agency, which is probing the drug link in Rajput’s death, had summoned Bollywood talent agency KWAN Agency’s CEO Dhruv Chitgopekar, deputy director of NCB KPS Malhotra confirmed. Chitgopekar reached the Bombay Port Trust (BPT) guesthouse, where NCB officials were questioning people, around 2 pm.

Malhotra, however, denied reports of KWAN employee and actor Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash being summoned by the agency. “No summons have been issued to Prakash. But we will summon her later this week,” he said.

The actors will be summoned under Section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, after they were named by Rhea Chakraborty while she was being interrogated between September 6 and September 8 before being arrested, NCB officials said.