Nearly nine months after Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his flat, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday filed its charge sheet in the case that involves the drug angle behind the mysterious death.
Rhea Chakraborty has been named in the charge sheet. Chakraborty, her brother Showik and his friend and assistant director Rishikesh Pawar, house manager Samuel Miranda and house help Dipesh Sawant are some of the accused in the case.
NCB officials said that the case was thoroughly investigated on the basis of seizures effected from the accused persons, voluntary disclosure statements, technical evidence i.e connectivity through Call details, WhatsApp Chats, details of bank accounts/financial transactions and other oral and documentary evidence.
“During the course of the investigation, several seizures of various narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances, electronic gadgets and Indian as well as foreign currency were affected. The technical gadgets and the mobile phones were analyzed and the relevant incriminating evidence regarding the sale, purchase, procurement, consumption and possession of narcotics drugs were extracted. Drugs seized were sent for chemical examination,” NCB officials said.
They added that substantial Indian and foreign currencies have also been seized during investigation and action taken under relevant provisions.
They allegedly used to get drugs for the actor.
Sushant (34), who had acted in Bollywood films such as M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Kedarnath (2018) and Chhichhore (2019), was found dead on June 14 at his duplex flat in Mount Blanc building at Bandra here.
The Bandra police station in Mumbai registered an accidental death report (ADR) in the case, however, following the first information report (FIR) registered by the actor’s father Krishna Kishore Singh in Bihar and growing demand for a detailed probe and request by the Bihar government, the Supreme Court ordered a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On August 19, the CBI formally took over the case and then the Enforcement Directorate (ED) joined in to probe the financial angle and NCB was roped in to investigate the drugs angle.
It needs to be mentioned here that the NCB has 180 days to file the charge sheet under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
There are two sets of cases that were registered by NCB – FIR 15/2020 and FIR 16/2020 – and there seems to be a common thread, according to the investigations conducted so far by the federal anti-drug agency. While 15/2020 deals with the drug angle vis-à-vis Sushant Singh Rajput case, 16/2020 involves a probe of the larger Bollywood-drug cartel nexus.
Over the last five-plus months, the NCB had gathered evidence through searches, narcotics seizures, data analysis, statements and technical investigation. WhatsApp chats of the suspects have also been analysed in detail.
The NCB has arrested around 30 persons during the investigations – which include drug suppliers, peddlers and couriers.
It needs to be mentioned that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government had come under fierce attack of the BJP and the social media over the investigations of the case.
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