Mumbai:

After municipal officials warned actor Kangana Ranaut that her office in Mumbai could be demolished over alleged illegal construction, she hit back at them saying, “If you break it, my spirit will only get stronger”.

However, in what appears to be an escalation of the row between Ms Ranaut and the Shiv Sena, the party’s MLA Pratap Sarnaik asked the Maharashtra government to look into a “drugs angle” involving the actor, as reported by a tabloid in an interview with actor Adhyayan Suman. The Maharashtra Home Minister has said he will look into the allegations.

“I have told the Mumbai Police to look into details of a media report that Kangana Ranaut was in a relationship with actor Adhyayan Suman, who had claimed in an old interview that she takes drugs and had also forced him to do so. A request for investigation was submitted by MLAs Sunil Prabhu and Pratap Sarnaik,” the Home Minister said.

The civic agency BMC says its move against Ms Ranaut is not a “political grouse”, following her war of words with leaders of the ruling party in Maharashtra.

The BMC is controlled by the Shiv Sena. Questions have been raised on the timing of the notice to Ms Ranaut over alleged illegal construction.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar denied political vendetta in the matter. “Someone complained and so we just investigated the premises. There’s nothing political in this,” she told NDTV.

Officials said the building violations include what was supposed to be a toilet converted into office space and new toilets being constructed along the side of a staircase.

Ms Ranaut has been asked to show the permission letter for these constructions.

She said the BMC did not raze the building due to criticism it has faced from the public.