Hyderabad: Ex-serviceman, Tollywood financier among 3 arrested for peddling drugs | Hyderabad News
Three persons, including an ex-serviceman and a Tollywood cine financier, were Thursday arrested from an apartment in Hyderabad’s Madhapur for allegedly peddling drugs and organising rave parties. The arrests were made after sleuths of Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TS-NAB) and Gudimalkapur police raided the premises.
The police also seized 2.8 grams of cocaine, 6 LSD blots, 25 Ecstacy pills of 11.5 grams, and 40 grams of marijuana from their possession.
According to police, the arrested persons were identified as B Balaji (34), a former Navy personnel turned drug transporter and peddler, K Venkataratna Reddy (47), who financed a few Telugu films and regularly organised rave parties in the city, and a customer D Murali (42), an employee in the office of IG, Railway Protection Force.
While Balaji arranged for drugs, Venkataratna Reddy, who according to police financed films like Damarukam, Kick, Businessman, Lovely, Auto Nagar Surya etc., funded the procurement of drugs in bulk quantities to organise parties. Two women from Delhi were also present at the apartment at the time of raid. They had come over on Reddy’s assurance for roles in movies.
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According to D Sunitha Reddy, SP (West), TSNAB, Balaji had been arranging drugs for his friends and customers in the city. A native of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Balaji developed contacts with drug peddlers in Hyderabad and Bangalore as he regularly visited Hyderabad to party with his friends. “He had direct links with Nigerian peddlers in Bangalore and brought drugs to Hyderabad for arranging parties. He has been selling drugs to his customers, including ones from the cine field,” said the official.
The police also found four persons, including three Nigerian nationals and a man from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, who supply drugs to Balaji.
Police said four drug suppliers and 18 customers are absconding in the case.