Hair follicle drug test conducted on those arrested in Bengaluru drug case
Bengaluru: As part of its ongoing probe into celebrity drug racket here, the city police for the first time has subjected those arrested, including Kannada film actors, to hair follicle test to check whether they had consumed narcotic substances, a senior official said.
Besides gathering other evidence, the police this time resorted to the hair test to strengthen the case in which actors, rave party organisers, realtors and African drug peddlers have been arrested since August after the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) first unearthed a racket.
Later, the Central Crime Branch police launched its own crackdown into drug abuse and has arrested at least 15 people so far.
"This is the first time that a hair sample test is being done to get additional evidence though we already have evidence in the form of technical data, eye witnesses, mobile phone analysis, seizures," Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said.
The investigation was on the right track, he said, adding the hair sample test was only to get additional evidence as the case would not stand only on hair evidence.
The hair follicle drug test is conducted on a person who is suspected of drug abuse to confirm it, said a police officer.
The Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act requires elaborate investigation backed by adequate evidence, without which the accused would be acquitted, and hence the police were extra cautious this time and wanted to strengthen the case of prosecution, another officer said.
Those arrested by the CCB included actors Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, their associates B K Ravishankar, realtor Rahul Thonse and a few Nigerians, who were drug peddlers. PTI GMS VS
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
