In 2017, 12 actors and directors from Tollywood appeared before the Special Investigation Team of Telangana Prohibition and Excise Department in connection with a high-end online drug racket.

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned several celebrities in connection to a money laundering case in a drug trafficking matter. Bollywood actors like Rakul Preet Singh and Rana Daggubati have been summoned in the matter. Other Tollywood celebrities like Ravi Teja, Charmee Kaur and director Puri Jagannadh have also been asked to appear before the agency.

According to a report in timesofindia.com, actor Teja’s driver and another person who works as a general manager of F Club were also summoned by ED. The agency had taken over the probe on the basis of a case registered in 2017 in Telangana in connection with a high-end drugs racket, according to a report in IANS. The Telangana SIT (Special Investigation Team) had arrested a South African national in August 2017 for allegedly supplying cocaine from Mumbai to Hyderabad, the report further said. Those arrested are said to be major suppliers of banned drugs to pubs, educational institutions and rave parties in Goa and Hyderabad, with links to Pune, Mumbai and Delhi too. Officials said the dealers are well-educated and some of them are employed with top companies. Six of the arrested people are engineering graduates.

A Hyderabad court last month accepted the charge sheets filed by SIT in the matter. The summons by ED have been issued for questioning from September 2 to 22. The agency has also sent summons to the excise department officers who handled the case to appear before it as well. The SIT had collected blood, hair, nail and other samples from some of those who appeared before it for questioning and sent them for analysis.

The Telengana Excise and Prohibition Department in 2017 had registered 12 cases after seizing drugs worth Rs 30 lakh. The customs officials also arrested Calvin Mascarenhas, a musician, and two others in the matter.