Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife Shabana Saeed was arrested on Sunday, 8 November, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after 10 grams of ganja was allegedly recovered from their residence in Mumbai’s suburban Juhu – making this the latest celebrity arrest in connection with drug possession. The Centre’s NDPS Act, 1985 defines India’s law around cannabis and its products and criminalises its sale, possession, transportation, and cultivation in certain forms in India.
NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede told a news agency that Firoz Nadiadwala was summoned by the anti-drugs agency earlier in the day, but he did not appear. “We have arrested Firoz Nadiadwala”s wife under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Further investigation is on,” he said. Earlier in the day, the residence of the Nadiadwalas was searched by a team of NCB officials who seized the marijuana, officials said. The contraband had been purchased from an accused identified as Wahid Abdul Kadir Sheikh alias Sultan who was arrested earlier, they said.
Firoz Nadiadwala belongs to the prominent Nadiadwala family of filmmakers. He is the grandson of producer A K Nadiadwala and cousin of filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala. Firoz is the elder brother of Sahid Nadiadwala. He has also given Bollywood another successful franchise – Welcome. Firoz bankrolled Welcome (2007) and Welcome Back (2015).
