ActorRakul Preet Singh on Friday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED)for questioning in connection with a money laundering probe linked to afour-year-old drug case.
Shereached the ED office here around 9.10 a.m., an hour before the scheduled time.
TheED has summoned Rakul for questioning on September 6 but she had sought moretime citing her busy shooting schedule. However, the agency declined topostpone the questioning and asked her to appear three days before thescheduled time.
Sheis the third Tollywood personality being questioned by the ED. Director PuriJagannadh was questioned for nearly 10 hours on Tuesday while actor CharmmeKaur was quizzed for about eight hours on Thursday.
TheED officials are questioning the film personalities about the financialtransactions, if any, with those involved in the drugs case.
BothPuri and Charmme were reportedly questioned about the suspected links withCalvin Mascarenhas, a key accused in the case.
TheED last week issued notices to 10 persons connected to Tollywood and two othersincluding a private club manager as part of a money laundering probe linked tothe drugs racket.
ActorsRakul Preet Singh, Rana Daggubati, Ravi Teja, Charmme Kaur, Navdeep, MumaithKhan and director Puri Jagannath have been asked to appear before ED betweenAugust 31 and September 22.
Tanish,Nandu, actor Ravi Teja's driver Srinivas are also among those summoned inconnection with the drugs racket which was busted with the arrest of drugpeddlers in 2017.
RakulPreet Singh and Rana were not among Tollywood personalities questioned by theSpecial Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana's prohibition and excisedepartment, which probed the case.
Thedrugs racket was busted on July 2, 2017 when customs officials arrested CalvinMascarenhas, a musician, and two others and seized drugs worth Rs 30 lakh fromtheir possession.
Theyhad reportedly told the investigators that they are supplying drugs to filmcelebrities, software engineers, and even students of some corporate schools.Mobile numbers of some Tollywood celebrities were allegedly found in theircontact lists.
Theexcise department had constituted SIT for a comprehensive probe. A total of 12cases were registered, 30 people were arrested while 62 individuals including11 people connected with Tollywood were examined by the SIT under section 67 ofthe Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and section 161 ofCriminal Procedure Code.
TheSIT had collected blood, hair, nail and other samples from some of those whoappeared before it for questioning and sent them for analysis.
ActorsRavi Teja, Charmme Kaur, Mumaith Khan, director Puri Jagannath and young actorsTarun Kumar and P. Navadeep were among the stars who were questioned by theSIT.
CinematographerShyam K. Naidu, actors Subbaraju, Tanish, Nandu and Ravi Teja's driver Srinivaswere also among those questioned.
TheSIT filed chargesheet in eight out of 12 cases. It, however, gave clean chit tothe film personalities who were questioned as part of the investigation.