Police on Thursday registered a case against senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh and nine other party leaders including some Rajasthan ministers for allegedly using opium in a social function recently.
The case was later transferred to the CID (Crime Branch) for further action.
"We have registered a case against Jaswant Singh and others under various sections of the NDPS Act in Balotra police station of Barmer district as per the direction of the special court of Jodhpur," said Inspector General of Police (Jodhpur range) N R K Reddy.
"The case has been transferred to the CID (CB) for investigation and now it is up to the crime branch to nominate an investigation officer," Reddy said.
Singh had hosted that event in his ancestral village Jasol in Barmer on October 31 and dissident BJP leaders of the state including four ministers of the Vasundhara Raje government and many others attended it.
The NDPS court on November 5 directed the police to register a case against Singh while admitting a criminal report filed by Jodhpur-based advocate Om Prakash Vishnoi.
"We received the court directions by registered post this evening and have registered the case immediately," Reddy said.
It was alleged that Singh welcomed the guests by offering them opium diluted in water, a charge denied by him.
Apart from Singh, party leaders Raghuveer Singh Kaushal, Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, Kailash Meghwal, state Cabinet Ministers Ghan Shyam Tiwari, Narpat Singh Rajvi, Madan Dilawar and Mahaveer Prasad Jain and two BJP legislators Jogeshwar Garg and Shankar Singh Rajpu Rohit have also been named in the complaint.
