HYDERABAD: The controversy over the death by suicide of Sushanth Singh Rajput has hit closer home as the name of Tollywood actress Rakul Preet Singh has cropped up in the investigation by the Narcotics Control Bureau into the alleged drug nexus involving Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty.
Chakraborty named a few movie stars during the questioning by the NCB including Rakul Preet Singh, who was earlier appointed as the brand ambassador of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao in Telangana by the state government.
Singh, who lives in Hyderabad, was reportedly in a shooting on Saturday when the media reported that Rhea Chakraborty had taken her name during the NCB investigation, after which she immediately packed up and rushed to her residence.
It may be mentioned that names of Tollywood stars cropping up in investigations by government agencies is not new. In 2017, when the Telangana excise department undertook an investigation into a drug racket, the names of several Tollywood A-listers had cropped up.
Soon after news broke of Singh's name cropping up in the NCB investigation, the BJP's chief spokesperson in Telangana, K Krishna Saagar Rao, issued a statement demanding a thorough investigation into the involvement of Tollywood personalities in the drug nexus.
He said, "Earlier, Akun Sabharwal IPS has done a thorough investigation into the drug mafia influence on not just Tollywood, but also schools and colleges in Hyderabad. Many big names were taken and news headlines were made, but none of them were brought to justice. Ironically, the Tollywood actress in question Rakul Preet Singh has been a Telangana brand ambassador, and has been preaching against drug abuse through state government sponsored publicity programmes. Such is the state of affairs and duplicity of these self-proclaimed youth icons and role models."
Rao said, "BJP demands that CM K Chandrashekar Rao initiate a serious investigation into the drug menace in Hyderabad, which is destroying many young lives in the state of Telangana." He added that he will also write to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, requesting a serious investigation through NCB into drug trafficking in Telangana.