Hyderabad: Telangana’s anti-narcotics dragnet has widened, with the brother of a well-known Tollywood and Bollywood actress going missing after investigators flagged him as a suspected consumer in a cocaine-MDMA racket. The actor, who was caught last year by Cyberabad police and tested positive for cocaine, is now being tracked by the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE). The fresh lead emerged after EAGLE sleuths, along with Masab Tank police, arrested two businessmen — Nitin Singhania and Shranik Singhvi of Troop Bazar — and seized 43 grams of cocaine and 11.5 grams of MDMA from them at Masab Tank a few days ago. During questioning, police learnt that the arrested duo had four regular customers, including the actress’s brother, to whom the drugs were to be delivered. The exchange was thwarted before the handover. Soon after the arrests, the actor went incommunicado. “In the past, the actress’s brother was caught as a consumer in Narsingi police station limits, and he also tested positive in a urine test. After busting the latest racket, it shows that the actor is not reformed. We have information that he continues to abuse drugs. The two accused were on their way in a car to deliver the drug to four consumers, including the heroine’s brother,” investigation officials told TOI. Not named as accused yetPolice said the actor has not yet been named as an accused, but his name surfaced in the confession statements of the two arrested peddlers from Troop Bazar. Investigators traced the supply chain to Ellena Kasakatira, a Malawian national, and Emile Mulinde, a Senegalese national — both repeat offenders. Ellena was first arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence at Mumbai airport in 2020 while attempting to smuggle 1,000 grams of cocaine, while Emile was caught in 2021 for trying to smuggle 700 grams at the same airport.Another drug abuse caseRecently, during a party attended by nearly 200 Africans in Mumbai, the two allegedly reconnected with a drug peddler, on whose instructions they travelled to Hyderabad on Dec 14 and supplied the drugs to Singhania and Singhvi. In another related case a few months ago, EAGLE officials arrested three persons for drug abuse at a Jubilee Hills pub. The trio had partied earlier at a pub where the actress’s brother was also present. However, police said they had no information then linking the actor to drug abuse and he was not questioned.
