A day after Baahubali fame Rana Daggubati was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with high-end drugs and money laundering case, actor Ravi Teja and his driver Srinivas on Thursday appeared before the central agency for questioning.
He was asked to produce his bank statements.
The Idiot actor was among 10 Tollywood personalities and about four more persons summoned by the ED as part of the ongoing money laundering probe in connection with a drugs racket busted in the city in 2017.
Mr. Ravi Teja and Mr. Srinivas went to the ED office at Basheerabagh around 10 a.m. and was questioned till 3.30 p.m.
Starting August 31, filmmaker Puri Jagannadh, his business partner and actor Charmme Kaur, Rakul Preet Singh, Nandu and Rana Daggubati appeared before the agency after summons were issued to them.
Later in the day, the ED officials also questioned an event manager and accused in 2017 drugs racket case Mohammed Zeeshan Ali Khan, 26, alias Jack from Murad Nagar in Mehdipatnam. In July 2017, Khan along with his Nigerian partner Bernard Wilson aka Williams was caught by the Excise officials while selling drugs.
Sources confirmed that there were money transactions between Khan and actor Ravi Teja’s driver Srinivas. “Srinivas could have transferred the money to Khan on behalf of the actor,” an official said.
In June, Khan along with 67 youngsters, including 21 women techies, were booked by the Cyberabad police for taking part in a birthday party organised at a farm house in Kadthal village of Ranga Reddy district in violation of COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Ravi Teja was questioned by the State Prohibition and Excise Department sleuths back in 2017 too after the racket was busted.
It followed the arrest of several people, including an American, a South African and a Netherlands national. The US national was a former aerospace engineer who worked with NASA.
The drug racket involved supplying high-end drugs such as LSD MDMA.
The central agency has also questioned Calvin Mascarenhas, a musician and the alleged mastermind of the three-member drug supplying gang arrested by the Excise sleuths in 2017.
