Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar has issued a statement to deny all the allegations of drugs consumption at a party held at his house in Mumbai in 2019. Several tinsel town celebs including Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Deepika Padukone, Varun Dhawan, Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor reportedly attended the party, which was organised at KJo's residence.
The ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ director also denied knowing a person, Kshitij Prasad, who has been detained by the Narcotics Control Bureau after interrogation on Friday night. According to sources, the NCB seized drugs from Prasad's house in Mumbai. The filmmaker's statement also mentioned another name, who he said worked with Dharma Productions briefly. "I would like to place on record that I do not know these individuals and personally...," he said, adding that they are not his "aides" or "close aides" as reported in some news reports.
Johar said Kshitij joined Dharmatic Entertainment as an executive producer for a project but things didn't materialise. "Mr. Kshitij Ravi Prasad joined Dharmatic Entertainment (sister concern of Dharma Productions) in November 2019 as one of the executive producers on contract basis for a project which eventually did not materialise," he said in the statement.
The 'Student Of The Year' director has also clarified that he neither consumes any narcotics substance nor he promotes the consumption of drugs. “In view of the current malicious campaign, I am reiterating that the allegations are completely baseless and false. No narcotics substance was consumed in the party. I would like to unequivocally once again state that I do not consume narcotics and I do not promote or encourage consumption of any such substance,” the statement read. Karan Johar shared the statement on his Instagram and Twitter handles.
Earlier in the day, the NCB questioned Rakul Preet Singh, Kshitij Ravi Prasad and Deepika Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash in connection with the investigation into the alleged Bollywood drugs nexus, which stemmed from actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case.
Siromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who filed a complaint with NCB chief Rakesh Asthana over the party held at Johar's house, has claimed that the filmmaker will be summoned in a drug-related case. His tweet created a buzz on social media. Reacting to Karan Johar's statement, Sirsa tweeted: "It’s NCB handling the case now. Your forged defence will not work. Get ready to face the music."
On a related note, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor will appear before the NCB in connection with the alleged Bollywood drugs case.