Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau, probing the drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, on Saturday accepted the “voluntary surrender” of the mobile phones of actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh for a detailed examination.

Sources told TOI that in order to corroborate their submissions to the NCB, the actors—who appeared before it on Saturday—had voluntarily submitted their phones, something which has been taken on record by probe officers. Others who have submitted their phones are Deepika’s manager Karishma Prakash, designer Simone Khambatta and Sushant’s talent manager Jaya Saha.

The NCB on Saturday also arrested Kshitij Prasad, who was briefly associated with filmmaker Karan Johar’s production house.

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Mumbai: The NCB on Saturday arrested Kshitij Prasad, who was briefly associated with Karan Johar’s production house, and claimed to have found documents and WhatsApp chats indicating Kshitij’s alleged involvement in illicit drug trafficking. It also claimed to have found a weed joint.

Sources said NCB has not given a clean chit to anyone questioned so far. “They were allowed to go home as we haven’t found any actionable evidence till now. The option to summon them is available under law if and when new material linking them crops up,” they said.

Deputy director (NCB) Ashok Jain told TOI over phone, “We are examining their cell phones to ascertain if they have told the truth.” He added, “None of them has been called again as of now. We have placed these filmstars’ statements on record so tomorrow the court should not pull us up saying why we did not record statements when their names figured in investigations. We have recorded their statements and will submit these before court and then decide the course of action,” Jain said.

Rakul’s questioning ended on Friday, while the other three actors along with Deepika’s manager Karishma Prakash were questioned on Saturday. Sources said Deepika was confronted with Karishma on their WhatsApp exchanges discussing drugs and the Koko party. She was asked for the list of people who attended the party and if narcotics were consumed. Deepika denied narcotics were made available in the party.

Actor Rakul Preet Singh has denied consuming drugs, but reportedly said Kshitij Prasad was involved in “questionable” activities. Sara admitted she had become close to Sushant during the shooting of film ‘Kedarnath’ and had accompanied him to his Lonavala farmhouse but denied consuming drugs. Rhea Chakraborty had told NCB officials that Sara often partied with Sushant at Lonavala. Shraddha too denied taking drugs.

Karan Johar has said Kshitij had joined Dharmatic Entertainment (a sister concern of Dharma Productions) last November as one of the executive producers on contract basis for a project which eventually did not materialise.

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The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday seized the phones of actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the drugs probe linked to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus.

The agency also questioned Padukone’s manager and employee of KWAN talent management company, Karishma Prakash. It arrested Dharma Productions’ former executive producer Kshitij Ravi Prasad. The agency has so far arrested at least 20 persons in these cases.

While Kapoor and Khan were questioned at the NCB’s zonal office at Ballard Estate, Padukone was questioned at a guesthouse in Colaba, an official said.

Padukone arrived around 9.48 am at the Colaba guesthouse of the NCB in the midst of heavy media presence; Kapoor and Khan reached the NCB office at 11.47 am and 12.59 pm, respectively.

“Whatever statements of Padukone, Kapoor and Khan have been recorded, they will be presented before the court. Nobody else was issued summons by the NCB on Saturday. A lot of people have been questioned and arrested and recoveries have been made in the past few days. We will review the entire case and then plan the course of action,” said the Deputy Director General of the NCB, Ashok Jain, who did not give any further information.

Sources said Padukone was questioned regarding the WhatsApp group she allegedly administers.

“Kapoor was questioned about the chats wherein she was discussing CBD oil (cannabidiol); Khan was questioned as her name was revealed by Rhea [Chakraborty] during her questioning,” said the official. Deepika left for her Prabhadevi residence around 3.55 pm, while Khan left around 5.40 pm and Kapoor around 5.55 pm.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai police cautioned journalists not to chase those who are being called for inquiry and said that vehicles would be seized if they were found endangering lives.

“On Saturday, we observed a lot of media vehicles chasing people who were called for the inquiry. The vehicles will be seized because they are endangering their lives as well as lives of whoever was called and common people,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, Sangram Singh Nishandar.