EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
-
Sushant Singh Rajput case LIVE updates: During the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) investigation into the illegal substances angle in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case, a wider drugs nexus in Bollywood has surfaced.
-
On Wednesday, the NCB summoned actresses Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet and Deepika Padukone for questioning.
-
A senior NCB official related to the probe told IANS, “Summons have been issued to Deepika, Sara, Shraddha and Rakul for questioning. Besides four Bollywood actors, the NCB has also summoned fashion designer Simone Khambatta.”
-
Film producer Madhu Mantena reached the NCB office earlier in the day for questioning. Talent manager Jaya Saha, who has emerged as a person of interest for the NCB in the ongoing probe, has confessed to procuring drugs for actress Shraddha Kapoor, Sushant and Madhu, sources have said.
-
Some conversations on WhatsApp related to drugs are on the radar of the agency, as per reports. Few chats, which are now on public domain, were purportedly between Padukone’s manager and an employee of Kwan talent management company Karishma Prakash and one “D”.
-
Kwan talent management agency has contracts with several A-lister Bollywood actors and actresses. Deepika Padukone is reportedly one of them.
NCB summons Deepika’s manager
-
Earlier, the NCB, which is probing the alleged Bollywood-drug nexus, had summoned Karishma Prakash, as well as firm CEO Dhruv Chitgopekar, for questioning.
-
During the NCB’s probe into the drugs angle in late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case, a wider drugs nexus in Bollywood surfaced.
-
Sushant’s talent manager Jaya Saha was questioned by the NCB earlier on Monday.
-
During her questioning, the NCB got information about many persons allegedly having an active role in the Bollywood-drug nexus.
-
Some WhatsApp chats of the persons who were questioned earlier by the NCB suggested discussion about drugs, as per reports.
-
Meanwhile, actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty, who have both been arrested by the NCB and placed in judicial custody till October 6, filed an application in the Bombay High Court seeking bail on Tuesday. Their lawyer Satish Maneshinde said the plea will come up for hearing on Thursday after a holiday was declared due to water logging in the city.
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team reaches Shraddha Kapoor's residence to serve summon: NCB official #SushantSinghRajputDeathCase https://t.co/iZhggFgNRf
— ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2020
#NewsAlert – Mumbai rains to hamper NCB probe in #BollywoodDrugLink investigation?
'Will defer questioning by a day if needed': NCB. @Herman_Gomes shares details with @SiddiquiMaha. pic.twitter.com/56wbqKYhze
— CNNNews18 (@CNNnews18) September 23, 2020
-
Rhea Chakraborty, in her bail plea to the Bombay High Court, has said that she is just 28 years of age and has been subjected to investigations by four authorities– NCB, ED, CBI and Mumbai Police. She further stated that all this has taken a ‘severe toll on her mental health and well being’. Further custody will worsen her mental health, she stated in her bail plea.
CONCLUSION
-
Rhea was first arrested by the NCB on September 9. Her bail plea was rejected at that time by a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court in Mumbai on September 11 and she was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days along with Showik and Sushant’s staffers Samuel Miranda and Dipesh Sawant.
-
All four are charged under various sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Their judicial custody was extended till October 6 on September 22.
-
The NCB has so far arrested more than 12 people in connection with its probe linked to the case of the actor’s death. Sushant (34) was found dead at his home in suburban Bandra on June 14.