Deepika Padukone's Manager Summoned By Narcotics Control Bureau

Actor Deepika Padukone's manager, Karishma Prakash, has been summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a drug case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, Zonal Director of the agency, Sameer Wankhede, said. She is currently untraceable, and a notice has been pasted on the door of her Mumbai house, NCB sources say.

Ms Prakash had been questioned last month by the anti-drugs agency, which has been investigating the sale and use of banned substances in Bollywood.

Actors Rakul Preet Singh, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor were also summoned by the agency last month in its widening drug probe linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput case, which has thrown up a drugs and Bollywood twist after some alleged "drug chats" on WhatsApp were found by investigators.

The names of Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor had also come up in the investigations in connection with Jaya Saha, a celebrity talent manager.

In chat transcripts widely circulated in the media last month, two persons have a conversation about procuring hash; they were allegedly Deepika Padukone and her business manager Karishma Prakash, according to NCB sources.

Ms Padukone, one of the most successful female actors in the film industry, had appeared before the agency and was questioned for hours.

The actors have not been named as accused in any drugs probe case and there has been no recovery of banned substances from them.

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai house in June. While the police said he died by suicide, his family blamed his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty for his death. The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The NCB had registered a case against Ms Chakraborty and her brother Shovik, alleging they procured drugs for the late actor.

The Bombay High Court, earlier this month, granted bail to Ms Chakraborty after she spent over a month in jail in the drugs case, and said she had not "forwarded the drugs allegedly procured by her to somebody else to earn monetary other benefits".