Rhea Chakraborty grilled by NCB for 6 hours in Sushant drug probe
MUMBAI: Actress Rhea Chakraborty was questioned by the National Control Bureau (NCB) at its Mumbai office for over six hours in connection with drug abuse linked to Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
Rhea, 28, appeared at the NCB office after being summoned by the agency on Sunday morning, two days after her brother Showik Chakraborty along with Samuel Miranda was arrested by the probe agency. She has been called in again for questioning on Monday.
NCB issued a summon to Rhea Chakraborty in connection with the drug probe related to Bollywood actor Sushant’s death, Rhea’s lawyer on Sunday (September 6) said that the actress is ready for an arrest in the case.
Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde claimed that the action against Rhea is a witch-hunt. Maneshinde added that if loving someone is a crime then Rhea is ready to face the consequences of loving Sushant Singh Rajput.
According to Maneshinde, Rhea is innocent and this is the main reason why she hasn’t approached any court for an anticipatory bail in all cases foisted by Bihar Police with CBI, ED & NCB.
Earlier in the day, sources told that during the grilling, the NCB will show Rhea the CDR details of her WhatsApp chats on drug dealing. Sources say the NCB may arrest Rhea in case she fails to give convincing answers to questions posed by the agency.
A team led by NCB joint director Sameer Wankhede had visited Rhea’s house located in Santa Cruz (west) area accompanied by local police and some women personnel.
The agency has said it also wants to confront Rhea with her younger brother Showik Chakraborty (24), Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda (33) and his house staffer Dipesh Sawant in order to ascertain their individual roles in this alleged drug racket.
Rhea, in interviews given to multiple TV news channels, has said that she has never consumed drugs herself. She had, however, claimed that the late actor used to consume marijuana. It is claimed that Miranda told NCB investigators that he used to procure bud or curated marijuana for the late actor’s household.
A total of eight people have been arrested till now by the NCB with six being directly linked to this probe while two were arrested by it when the probe was launched under criminal sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
This case has given the NCB an “inkling” into the narcotics network and its penetration in Bollywood or Hindi movie industry, NCB Deputy Director General Mutha Ashok Jain told reporters on Saturday.
Various angles surrounding the death of the 34-year-old actor are being probed by three federal agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The drug investigation began after WhatsApp chats retrieved from Ms Chakraborty’s phone revealed an alleged conversation about procuring drugs between her and a contact saved as “Miranda Sushi” – believed to be Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda, who was also arrested by the NCB on Friday.
“Congratulations India, you have arrested my son, I’m sure next on the line is my daughter and I don’t know who is next thereafter. You have effectively demolished a middle class family. But of course, for the sake of justice everything is justified. Jai hind,” the statement from Lt Col Indrajit Chakraborty (Retd), who has also been questioned by the CBI for days, read.
(Mumbai Bureau with Agency Inputs).
