Tollywood drug racket: After Rakul Preet Singh, Rana Daggubati appears before ED for questioning

In connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to a four-year-old drug case, actor Rana Daggubati has appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on September 8 after he was summoned. Rana has been interrogated in the Hyderebad office of ED by a special team. He has also brought his laptop to the ED office to present all the financial transactions. After director Puri Jagannadh, actress-turned-producer Charmme Kaur and actress Rakul Preet Singh, Rana Daggubati is the fourth celebrity to be summoned by the Enforcement Directorate. They have been reportedly questioned about being allegedly present at a particular party and about their financial transactions. Rana is among 12 big names who are going to be quizzed in relation to the money laundering angle in the drug case. Meanwhile, like Rakul Preet Singh, Rana has reportedly brought his chartered accountants along with the files of his financials to the ED office . However, there has not been any confirmation from the officials or his team yet. As he arrived in the ED office with his team, Rana was questioned by the media also but he refused to comment. Now, talking about the high profile case, names of many Tollywood celebrities had come forward in this case but the exicse department's investigation didn't name any in the chargesheet earlier due to lack of evidence. According to reports, Enforcement Directorate has booked a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is looking into the financial history of people who are being called in for questioning. While no significant transactions linking to drug traffickers have been found so far, ED officials have stated that they would continue to check for any suspicious money trail. Talking about the drug case, on July 2, 2017, busting a drug racket, customs officials arrested Calvin Mascarenhas, a musician, and two others and seized drugs valued at Rs 30 lakh from their possession.