Mumbai: In his reply to the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) notice, filmmaker Karan Johar on Friday said that he has ‘misplaced’ the cellphone used to shoot the widely circulated video of a party attended by Bollywood celebrities at his residence in July last year where it was alleged that drugs were consumed, sources said.

Johar, instead, has sent a pendrive containing the video of the party and said that it was downloaded from what was available in the social media, sources added. The filmmaker has also denied indulging in drugs and iterated that drugs were not consumed in the party, sources said.

NCB officials said they would seek legal opinion before deciding the next course of action. “In his interviews to the media, he had spoken about the party. However, for us to intervene and start inquiries, we need to have clarity on certain legal aspects associated with it,” an official said.

The NCB had issued a notice to Johar on Wednesday after taking cognisance of the video. The agency had requisitioned him for the original source of the video to ensure its authenticity before progressing further with its inquiry.

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In response to the details sought by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) lab in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, has submitted that the 29-second video of the party hosted by Karan Johar last year was authentic and had not been tampered with. However, the DFS report states that they would be able to provide more details and clarity if they get the original device in which the video was shot.

According to sources in the DFS, the NCB had only sought details about the authenticity of the video. "We have found that the video is authentic and has not been tampered with. We will be able to give more clarity only if we get the original device in which the video was shot," a DFS source said.

Following the recommendation of the DFS, the NCB sent a notice under Section 67B of NDPS Act to Karan Johar seeking details of the device in which the video was shot. Responding to the notice, Karan on Friday submitted details and documents in a pen-drive. He sent his representative to the NCB office with the details. According to sources, he told the NCB that the device using which the video was shot had got misplaced and was not available with him. Zonal Director of NCB, Sameer Wankhede said that they were examining the details shared by the filmmaker.

Sources in the DFS also confirmed that they were never asked about the white-coloured thing seen in the video and whether it was a reflection of light or something else. "The distance between the lens and the substance seen in the video is very important. If the distance is long, then no lab will be able to confirm whether the object seen in the video is a white substance or a reflection of light," said a forensic expert from Mumbai FSL.

The NCB had initiated an enquiry based on the written complaint received from former Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa. The Maharashtra Congress also attacked the anti-drug agency asking them as to why they had not taken action against Karan in 2019 when Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister. "Why didn't the NCB investigate the matter when the Fadnavis government was in power? The video went viral in 2019 and Fadnavis was the home minister then. He must answer as the NCB is proceeding with the probe," said Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant. He also asked why no action was being taken against Kangana Ranaut, who confessed on TV of taking drugs.

"Why NCB is still not calling @KanganaTeam for investigation as she had confessed about her drug addiction in a video. NCB is investigating issues which have no relation to the SSR case for which they were called by the ED. NCB miserably failed in finding a drug angle in the SSR case," Sawant said in a tweet.

The Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS) in Gandhinagar has received 85 gadgets of Bollywood stars and their associates in the past 45 days from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is probing the drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, a highly placed source told Mirror. Data extracted by DFS Gujarat from 30 of these cell phones has been handed over to NCB, on the basis of which the agency has been conducting raids and making arrests in Mumbai. The extracted data includes deleted voice clips, video clips and chat messages and the cell phone numbers from which these were sent, the source said. The agency has also begun sending the forensic science laboratory (FSL) the samples of drugs seized from raids in Mumbai, asking it to ascertain their quality so they can zero-in on the supplier network and track down the buyers. So far around 25 samples have been sent across.

Most of the 85 gadgets sent for data extraction are cell phones of celebrities, their acquaintances and alleged drug peddlers that were seized in connection with the three cases filed by the NCB. The gadgets also include one or two laptops, tablets and pen drives. The cell phones belong to Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, Sara Ali Khan, Arjun Rampal, Shraddha Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and their associates, sources said. A detailed examination of their cellphones is also being done to corroborate their submissions to the NCB. The NCB has also requested DFS Gandhinagar to establish a link of forwarded messages and calls to establish the chain of drug users.

The cellphones sent across for data extraction are high-end ones with enhanced security features and up to a terabyte of storage. The DFS is using forensic tools procured from Israel to extract the data, a source said. “The challenge for the DFS is the huge storage capacity on these cell phones. Many times existing tools do not support extraction, so they have had to procure more tools,” the source added.

The NCB had begun its probe after receiving official communication from Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding chats related to drug consumption, procurement, usage and transportation following Rajput’s death in June. It has so far arrested more than 25 people and questioned more than 50, including Bollywood personalities, alleged drug suppliers and peddlers.