Hyderabad drug racket : Ravi Teja appears before SIT

Telugu movie star Ravi Teja appeared before the Excise department officials in the Hyderabad drugs haul case on Friday.

The actor arrived at the Prohibition and Excise department office after notice was served to him along with 11 others from the industry.

Ravi Teja, a superstar with a mass following in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was summoned after his name cropped up in the massive drugs racket thriving in Hyderabad. While the SIT officials maintained that the actor had been summoned only for questioning, nothing about his role in the racket has been established.

20 people, including people close to the Telugu film industry, have been arrested in connection with the case. At least 11 pubs in the city have been issued notices over allegations of serving as drug dens for peddlers. Two actresses who were issued notices were also questioned on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

All celebrities who had been summoned have denied any links with those arrested for peddling drugs. Most celebrities have told the SIT that they knew the accused only as event managers.