Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged that money from the drug mafia was used to fund the coup, which toppled the Congress-JD(S) coalition government last year.
Speaking to the media at Turuvekere, HD Kumaraswamy said that ring leaders of the drug racket were allegedly hiding in Sri Lanka during the coalition government’s regime and that money from this drug mafia and cricket betting was used to bring down the Congress-JD(S) government.
“When I was Chief Minister, some (drug peddlers) had fled to Sri Lanka due to the fear of our government’s action against the drug mafia. The drug mafia is responsible for the destabilisation of the coalition government. The money from drug mafia, dance bars and cricket betting was used to topple the coalition government,” Kumaraswamy alleged.
The issue surrounding the drug mafia in Karnataka was thrust into the limelight after the Narcotics Control Bureau’s drug bust on 21 August at three locations in the Bengaluru city.
The NCB had said that it had several actors and musicians from Karnataka under the scanner for their alleged involvement in the drug racket.
This then spiralled into a full-blown controversy after Sandalwood filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh alleged that several actors in the industry were using drugs at rave parties. Following his statement, Karnataka Home Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai said that Lankesh had been summoned by the Central Crime Branch, which was now been tasked with probing the drug mafia’s alleged link to Sandalwood.
“As Lankesh claimed in a statement to local news channels that a few film actors whom he knows were into drugs, we have asked him to give us details. We ordered the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police to probe the Kannada film industry's links to drugs,” Basavaraj Bommai said.
On Monday, the CCB grilled Indrajit Lankesh for five hours. The filmmaker said that he had furnished a list of 15 names to the sleuths, locations where rave parties had been held in the past and the names of drug peddlers, he knew based on information given to him by persons in the industry.
Following this, CCB chief Sandeep Patil said that the agency would widen the probe to investigate tips given by Lankesh. CCB sources, however, said that Indrajit Lankesh does not want to testify as a witness if the case ever went to court.
Following these developments, BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel urged party workers to create awareness about drug abuse.
“Drugs not only weaken the body but also the country. Therefore, our party workers need to raise awareness in the youth to keep as much distance as possible from any kind of drug body but also from the country. Central and state governments are working hard to dismantle the drug network. Our home minister has issued a directive to the Police Department to level the drugs network. My thanks to everyone who is working hard to root this network,” Nalin Kumar Kateel said.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute)
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