Continuing its swoop on the entertainment industry, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday arrested TV industry’s comedy queen Bharti Singh.
In a swoop, the NCB carried out raids at the residence of Bharti and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa. The sleuths seized from their residence 86.5 gms of ganja.
“Both Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa has accepted that they consumed ganja,” said NCB Mumbai unit’s Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
The couple were summoned to the Exchange Building, the NCB’s Mumbai zonal office.
While Bharti Singh has been arrested, her husband Haarsh is being examined.
The couple were taken in separate vehicles to the NCB office.
As Bharti entered the NCB office, she said: “….nothing….they have called us for some questioning”.
Earlier in the morning, the NCB teams landed at their premises in Andheri, Lokhandwala Complex and Versova areas and carried out search operations.
Bharti (36) and Haarsh (33) are among the leading couple in India’s TV industry and are currently hosting India’s Best Dancer on Sony Entertainment Television.
Bharti has been part of numerous comedy shows – and is now part of The Kapil Sharma Show Season 2 and Funhit Me Jaari.
Haarsh is a screenwriter and producer and has written the shows Comedy Circus Ke Tansen, Comedy Nights Bachao and Comedy Nights Live. He also wrote dialogues for the film PM Narendra Modi and lyrics for the title track of the film Malang. He has also created, produced and hosted Khatra Khatra Khatra and Hum Tum Aur Quarantine.
The questioning of the couple by the NCB is part of the probe to unravel the entertainment industry-drug cartel nexus.
Among the celebrities questioned earlier include Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan.
The NCB is carrying out two investigations simultaneously - one into the drug angle vis-à-vis Sushant Singh Rajput and the another the larger Bollywood-drug cartel nexus.
Nearly twenty persons, including Sushant’s live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik, were arrested. Subsequently, Rhea was granted conditional bail by the Bombay High Court.