Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police, probing an alleged drug racket with links to Kannada film industry, on Thursday searched actor Vivek Oberoi’s Andheri flat for his brother-in-law, Aditya Alva, an accused, reports Rajiv Kalkod.

“We suspected Alva had taken shelter at Oberoi’s residence... We searched the flat after obtaining a warrant from a Mumbai court, but Alva was not there. We questioned Alva’s family members, including his elder sister, Priyanka who is married to Oberoi,” police said.

Police ask actor’s wife to appear for questioning today

We suspected Alva may have been in touch with his family members... We have issued a notice asking Priyanka Alva Oberoi to appear before Bengaluru’s central crime branch (CCB) for questioning on Friday afternoon,” joint commissioner of Bengaluru police (crime) Sandeep Patil said.

An FIR was registered against Aditya Alva and 11 others under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at Cottonpet police station, Bengaluru, on September 4.

Priyanka and Aditya are children of the late Karnataka minister Jeevaraj Alva.

On September 14, police had raided Alva's four-acre farmhouse near Hebbal in Bengaluru, where only his housekeeping staff and a manager were present. Police seized certain electronic gadgets there.

The police team reached the Oberoi residence at 11.30am on Thursday. “The family took a long time before letting in the team led by two CCB inspectors assisted by Mumbai police. The police launched a search that ended by afternoon. They requested Priyanka to hand over her mobile phone to check the device. She refused saying the warrant does not specify handing over phones or laptops or other electronic devices, and did not hand it over,” an investigating officer, who was part of the team, told TOI.

Alva’s name surfaced when police arrested RTO staffer B K Ravi Shankar in the case. CCB police said Ravi Shankar, in his statement, alleged parties were held at Alva’s farmhouse where drugs were supplied to revellers.

Bengaluru police have so far arrested 16 persons. Alva and four others in the Cottonpet FIR—Shivaprakash, Vinay Kumar, Prashant Raju and Abhiswamy—are yet to be found. Shivaprakash and Kumar had applied for pre-arrest bail but their pleas were rejected.

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A Bengaluru police team on Thursday searched the Juhu residence of actor Vivek Oberoi in connection with a drugs case allegedly involving his brother-in-law Aditya Alva.

Alva, the son of former Karnataka minister Jeevaraj Alva, is accused number 6 in the case, wherein it drugs were allegedly being supplied to singers and actors in the Kannada film industry, known as ‘Sandalwood’. The police had not been able to trace Alva ever since his name surfaced in the case.

“We had arrested a few persons in a drug case registered at Cottonpet police station in Bengaluru in which Aditya Alva has been absconding. Vivek Oberoi is his relative and we had got some information that Alva could be there, and we wanted to check and verify this information. So, a court warrant was obtained and the Central Crime Branch team had gone to Oberoi’s house in Mumbai,” said a Bengaluru police officer, refusing to divulge further details of the search.

“We had provided assistance to the Bengaluru police who had arrived in Mumbai to conduct a search,” deputy commissioner of police, zone IX, Abhishek Trimukhe told Mirror.

The Bengaluru police have so far arrested Kannada actors Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani, party organiser Viren Khanna and realtor Rahul Thonse in connection with the case, which was registered last month.

In August this year, the Bengaluru Unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had seized a total of 145 MDMA pills, commonly known as ecstasy pills and Rs 2.20 lakh in cash at Royal Suits Hotel Apartment, Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru.