Drug case accused says he had cocaine with star

HYDERABAD: It was in a pub in Bangalore where Dr Siddharth first met the Nigerian drug peddler James Egems. They immediately struck a chord and became good friends and allegedly started snorting cocaine together.  Siddharth, who was arrested by the Langar Houz police along with James, said in his confession that he met James and several other Africans in 2010.  “My wife is a technical consultant in Wipro, Bangalore. So I frequently visited Bangalore and during one of my trips, I met James in a pub. Since then, I became addicted to drugs. I met James several times in the absence of my family members.  Whenever I was in Hyderabad, I used to call James and procure cocaine and later consume it with my friends - film actor Varun Sandesh, Ravi, Abhishek and others,” Siddharth said in his confession statement.  Similarly, James came to Hyderabad on July 22 on the request of Siddharth to deliver cocaine but Langar Houz police nabbed them at Attapur Ring Road.  City police said that James has reportedly been staying illegally in India for more than a decade. He came to India to pursue graduation in Karnataka University in 1980 but never returned to Nigeria despite his visa lapsing.  As reported by Express on Sunday, city police are planning to conduct a polygraph test on both Siddharth and James before questioning actor Varun Sandesh.  The young actor however denied all allegations as baseless and said that he is ready to prove his innocence. A petition has already been filed in Nampally Criminal Court seeking permission to conduct the polygraph test.  Presently, both Siddharth and James are under judicial remand.