The craze among the people, including the law-enforcing personnel, for film stars was on full display as the fading actress reached the SIT office.
Excise and police personnel manning the entrance to the SIT office in Abkari Bhavan on Wednesday created a hullabaloo when Tollywood actress Charmme Kaur (Surdeep Kaur) came for interrogation in connection with the ongoing investigations into the drug scandal.
The craze among the people, including the law-enforcing personnel, for film stars was on full display as the fading actress reached the SIT office on the seventh day of the interrogation of film personalities - she was literally mobbed by the police personnel themselves.
Despite her bouncers forming a protective ring around her, the police personnel vied with each other to get photographed with the actress as media photographers and TV crew began clicking pictures. In fact, a police constable named Srinivas allegedly put his hand on the actress' shoulder in the melee to get himself seen in the pictures, and the actress lodged a complaint with the SIT authorities against him.
Later, in conformity with the directives of the High Court, four women officers commenced interrogation of Kaur based on the inputs gathered from other film artistes like director Puri Jagannadh, cinematographer Shyam K Naidu, actors Subbaraju, Tarun and Navdeep, and others. During the course of the questioning, the SIT officials were understood to have tried to elicit from the actress her association with Calvin Mascarenhas, the mastermind in the drug racket.
According to informed sources, the SIT officials seemed to have gathered information that there were as many as 1,000 WhatsApp messages between Kaur and Mascarenhas. Hence their questioning was understood to have been centered around ascertaining why the actress was in touch with the main peddlar. She was also asked if she consumed drugs, whether rave drug parties were frequently held and who those serving drugs there were.
Since Kaur hails from a Punjabi family from Mumbai, the SIT also apparently asked her whether drugs were being brought from Punjab by persons known to her.
However, the actress is understood to have denied any close association with Mascarenhas, saying merely that she had met him at an event in connection with the movie on the biopic of Tollywood bombshell Jyothi Lakshmi, in which she had essayed the main character.
To queries on whether her friend Puri Jagannadh was used to taking drugs, the actress apparently stoutly refuted it. She was also understood to have been questioned about her trips to foreign countries and whether drugs were used by those attending various parties there, which she is said to have refused to answer.
The actress was interrogated for nearly six-and-a-half hours, and the questioning completed by 5 pm as per the High Court directive. The actress did not give her blood samples, and was advised to come for further questioning whenever wanted.
Meanwhile, Director of Excise Enforcement Directorate Akun Sabharwal and Excise Commissioner Chandravadan had a meeting with Chief Secretary S P Singh at the Secretariat, and apprised him of the progress in the investigation so far. Sabharwal also informed the CS that a key drug peddler named Mike Cummings, of Netherlands, had been arrested. The Dutch national was stated to be the key person supplying the contraband drugs. He is likely to be produced in the court and further investigation will be taken up.
Tollywood's popular item girl Mumaith Khan is likely to be interrogated by SIT on Thursday. The actress, who is busy shooting for the reality show "Big Boss", is understood to have sought permission from the producers to leave the house in Mumbai to present herself in Hyderabad for questioning by SIT.