Court denies pre-arrest bail to Deepika Padukone's manager in drug case

A special NDPS court here on Thursday rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash in a drug case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Fearing arrest in the drug-related probe into the death of Rajput, Prakash had filed an anticipatory bail application before the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) court in October last year. After hearing extensive submissions made by both defence and prosecution, special judge VV Widwans rejected her plea for anticipatory bail.

The court, however, stayed the order till August 25 to allow Prakash to approach the Bombay High court. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been probing alleged nexus between drug peddlers and Bollywood celebrities which came to light after Rajput's death in June last year. The CBI is separately probing Rajput's death case.

Prakash's name cropped up during interrogation of one of the arrested drug peddlers. The central agency has so far arrested more than 20 persons as part of its investigation into the drug case. Most of the accused, including the late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, are out on bail currently.