Cops deployed outside Deepika Padukone's residence

Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash was summoned to join the investigation

Mumbai: Police personnel have been deployed outside the residence of Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who is expected to arrive here from Goa on Thursday ahead of her appearance before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), an official said.

The NCB, which is probing an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus, has summoned Padukone on Friday to record her statement.

A team from the Dadar police station has been deployed outside 'Beaumonde Towers' in Prabhadevi, where the 34-year- old actor owns an apartment, as a precautionary measure, the official said.

The NCB, which began the probe after a drugs angle came to light in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput's alleged suicide, has now widened its investigation and asked a clutch of Bollywood celebrities to "join the probe".

Earlier, Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash was summoned to join the investigation, but she sought time due to ill-health and has been exempted from appearance till Friday, an official had said on Wednesday.

Prakash's WhatsApp chats included conversations about drugs with one `D', NCB sources said, adding the central agency wanted to find out who this person was.