Sandalwood Drugs Case: Absconding Aditya Alva Arrested; Under Seven Day Custody

Aditya Alva who has been on the run for four months was arrested in Chennai Monday night. He is one of the 17 accused in the Sandalwood drugs case.

IMAGE (IANS)

New Delhi: Vivek Oberoi’s brother-in-law and Janta Party minister late Jeevraj Alva’s son Aditya Alva has been arrested in connection with the sandalwood drugs case. The Bengaluru Crime Branch said, he was arrested in Chennai on Monday night. Alva has been on the run since an FIR was lodge on September 4^th 2020. He is among the 17 people who have been booked in connection with the Sandalwood drugs case according to IANS. According to media reports, in a statement, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said that continuous search and enquiry was conducted and the received information from a credible source that led to his arrest from Chennai on Monday night. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court had denied Alva's plea to quash the FIR registered against him at the Cottonpet police station. The apex court had also denied Alva's plea to procure anticipatory bail. His legal counsel Nishanth Patil had earlier filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Karnataka High Court, which was also denied. Raiding Sandalwood Houses In October, Bengaluru Police raided Vivek Oberoi’s residence in Mumbai in search of Aditya Alva before which Karnataka CCB raided a property owned by Aditya Alva's mother Nandini Alva. After Alva absconded, CCB also questioned Ricky Rai, the son of former underworld don and social activist Muthappa Rai, a day after carrying out a raid at his house in Hebbal. Rai's farmhouse at Bidadi in Ramanagara district and his house at Sadashivanagar in Bengaluru were also raided. Aditya Alva is said to be accused Number 6. He has now been brought to Bengaluru for questioning and will be produced before a special court to seek police custody for further investigation. The Kannada film industry has been under the scanner of the police for drugs-related offences after the police and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted an international drug trafficking racket in multi-city raids in August 2020. Sandalwood drug racket was exposed by deceased journalist Gauri Lankesh's brother - Indrajit Lankesh after he alleged the involvement of certain actors in the drug scandal.