MUMBAI: The Anti-Narcotics Cell of Mumbai police has summoned Siddhanth Kapoor, brother of actress Shraddha Kapoor, and social media influencer Orhan Awatramani alias Orry in connection with the probe into an alleged drug trafficking syndicate linked to the Dawood Ibrahim gang.
“We have summoned Kapoor on Tuesday and sent a second summons to Orry to appear before us on Wednesday,” a senior police officer told Hindustan Times.
Orry, who was summoned earlier by the ANC, had sought time till November 25 to join the probe as he is out of the city.
Both Orry and Kapoor have been asked to appear before the Ghatkopar ANC unit which is probing the case, the officer quoted earlier said.
Alleged drug trafficker Mohammad Salim Mohammad Suhail Shaikh, who was deported from Dubai recently in connection with the same case, is currently in the custody of the Ghatkopar ANC.
According to sources in the ANC, Orry is likely to be questioned about revelations made by Shaikh.
On November 13, the ANC, in a remand application, told a metropolitan magistrate court in the city that Shaikh had claimed to have arranged lavish parties for celebrities in Dubai and Mumbai. Attendees included the son of Dawood’s deceased sister Haseena Parkar, actors Nora Fatehi, Shraddha Kapoor and her brother Siddhanth Kapoor, film producers Abbas-Mustan, rapper Loka, Orry, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Zeeshan Siddique, Shaikh told police during interrogation.
The crime branch is yet to verify the claims made by Shaikh as their investigation is at a preliminary stage, an ANC officer said.
Police believe that Shaikh can provide vital clues to an international drugs and hawala network linked to key gangsters and traffickers.
The case dates back to August 2022, when the crime branch and the Ghatkopar ANC arrested Shaikh from Nagpada, and recovered mephedrone (MD) worth ₹1.19 lakh from him. Several other alleged drug peddlers were arrested subsequently, while the big breakthrough came in March 2024, when a mephedrone-manufacturing facility in a farm in Sangli district was busted.
The facility was allegedly controlled by wanted drug trafficker Salim Dola and his son Taher, sources said. Taher was deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrested by Mumbai police in June this year, while his relative, Mustaffa Mohammad Khubbawala, was deported a month later.
“The raw material required to make MD in Sangli was provided by Khubbawala from Surat. From Sangli, the bulk of the manufactured drugs would be sent to Mira Road,” said a police officer.
The traffickers used luxury cars like Mercedes and BMWs to transport the drugs, to avoid raising suspicion, and the money collected from distributors was sent to the key players who operated the network from Dubai via hawala channels, the officer said.