Filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh claims at least 15 into drug trade in Kannada film industry
Bengaluru: Filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh on Tuesday claimed that at least 15 people in the Kannada film industry were involved in drug trafficking.
He made the claim a day after deposing before the police to share the information about the alleged drug racket operating in the film industry.
"I have given (names of) around 15 people whom I know are into drug business. I shared those names with the police," Lankesh told PTI.
Lankesh was questioned for nearly five hours by the Central Crime Branch on Monday for his statement that there were many people in the film industry who were into the drug business either as consumers or sellers.
The filmmaker made the statement in the wake of the Narcotics Control Bureau busting a drug trafficking racket here and said some "prominent musicians and actors" in Karnataka were under its scanner. The filmmaker said he wanted to expose the drug use in the industry.
"There are celebrities, when they start smoking and start doing cocaine, they are the brand ambassadors of youth today. These people think it is cool..," he added.
Lankesh said he suspected that some of the parties organised in the 'Sandalwood' were hosted by drug mafias within the industry.
Lankesh did not rule out the possibility of the Mumbai underworld behind the supply of drugs to a section of people in the Kannada film industry.
Meanwhile, the police said they were probing the matter.
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LPG bookings close to normal, but situation continues to be worrisome
New Delhi (PTI): Bookings for domestic LPG refills are approaching pre-war normal levels, signalling a gradual return to normalcy, but concerns persist as supply restrictions on commercial consumers, including hotels, remain in place due to ongoing disruptions in input supplies caused by the West Asia conflict.
Over 33 crore domestic LPG consumers had, on average, booked about 55 lakh cylinders daily before the February 28 military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran. The escalation triggered sweeping retaliation from Tehran, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz - a critical shipping corridor used by major Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to export crude oil, gas and LPG to key markets including India.
The shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz blocked India's access to almost 60 per cent of its LPG, leading to curtailment of supplies to commercial users and triggering panic buying by domestic users, which peaked to 87.7 lakh on March 13.
Bookings have since fallen to 56-57 lakh on March 18, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
"Panic booking is coming down," she said, adding that the government continues to prioritise the supply of available LPG to domestic households.
However, "LPG (supply) situation remains worrisome but there is no dry out at any LPG distributor," she said.
Commercial users are getting just a fifth of their requirement.
Sharma said domestic LPG production has increased by over 40 per cent in the last two weeks and the three public sector oil marketing companies have been making normal, pre-war levels of daily deliveries of LPG refills.
"Our supply has not dipped. Some days the supply has been higher (than pre-war times). On March 18, 54.91 lakh LPG cylinders were delivered against a booking of over 56 lakh," she said.
Oil companies are operating extra shifts to keep LPG deliveries in pace with the bookings. They delivered 62.5 lakh cylinders on March 13 and 60 lakh on March 14 - the peak two days of panic bookings.
LPG supplies are under close monitoring amid the prevailing geopolitical tensions, with no dry-outs reported at distributorships and domestic cylinder deliveries continuing uninterrupted, she said.
Online bookings have risen sharply to 94 per cent, while Delivery Authentication Code (a unique OTP that is sent to registered mobile numbers of actual users to ensure LPG is being delivered to correct customers) coverage has expanded to 83 per cent.
In addition, customers near a city gas network are being encouraged to shift to piped natural gas - a convenient alternative to LPG as the fuel continuously travels through pipes to household kitchens without the botheration of refill bookings.
"In the last two weeks, 1.25 lakh new domestic, commercial and industrial connections have been issued," she said.
Raids and inspections to stop black marketing continue with seizure of cylinders as well as FIRs in several states.
The Union government on March 18 wrote to all state governments asking them to take all steps to prevent black marketing and hoarding while taking stringent actions against violators.
Besides, alternate fuels such as kerosene are being promoted, she said adding commercial LPG stocks have been placed with states for using them as per their priority list.
