The allegations and suspicions of widespread use of drugs has created a stir in Telugu film industry both in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Even as famous Telugu actress Charmme Kaur appears before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Prohibition and Enforcement Department in Hyderabad on Wednesday, Cinematography Minister of Telangana T Srinivas Yadav said action will be taken against those film celebrities who will be found using or supplying narcotics.
Charmme who had approached the High Court against the method of questioning of film celebrities was questioned by a team comprising of four women, including a Deputy Superintendent and three circle inspectors. There was no male officer in the team to avoid any controversy.
According to the sources most of questions asked to Charmme were about the prominent film director Puri Jagannath who was questioned on the first day of the probe.
Charmme was asked whether she was using the narcotics substances and who was the supplier. She was asked whether she had supplied drugs to Puri and any other celebrities. She was also grilled about her visit to Bangkok and asked whether she had smuggled drugs into the country.
There were speculations in the film industry that many more big names of Tollywood were likely to get the notices from the Excise department on the basis of information collected during the questioning so far.
“Drug abuse is an individual matter and suspecting entire industry is wrong. Action will be taken on the basis of the material unearthed during the questioning by SIT”, the Minister added.
Charmme Kaur drove to the Excise Commissioner office from a shooting schedule to appear before the SIT.
Charmme caught the attention of the Prohibition and Enforcement department as they found her name in the phone of an alleged drug smuggler Calvin Mascarenhas. The investigators found that the two had chatted frequently through Whatsapp.
Charmme had saved his name in her phone as Dada.
As the High Court had restricted the SIT questioning to a lady till 5 pm only, Charmme was likely to be summoned again.
Another actress Mumaith Khan, known for her item songs was likely to be questioned tomorrow. She is presently participating in reality Tv show Big Boss.
Meanwhile a former actor and YSRCP legislator Roja took strong objection to the publicity surrounding the questioning of the film celebrities. “What if these celebrities were found innocent. Will the department compensate the harm caused to the image of these actors and the film industry as a whole”, she asked at a media conference.