ED summons Rhea Chakraborty, to appear before agency on Friday
MUMBAI: In a recent development in Sushant Singh Rajput death case, girlfriend and actress Rhea Chakraborty has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday. Actor Rhea Chakraborty has been asked to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Friday in an investigation into suspected money laundering surrounding Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
The Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes, had filed a money laundering case last week over “suspicious transactions” worth Rs 15 crore in connection with the death of the Bollywood actor.
Rhea , who has been named in an FIR filed by the family of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput with regards to his death, left her residence “in the middle of the night”, a TV channel report has claimed.
A Republic TV report claimed the supervisor of the building where Rhea stayed has said that Rhea left three days ago, in the middle of the night, along with her parents and brother. “They left together in a blue car and had big suitcases with them,” the report quoted the supervisor as saying. Sushant hadn’t visited Rhea’s apartment since some time, he added.
The case was filed after the agency took note of a First Information Report or FIR by Bihar Police, which was investigating the actor’s death and financial transactions based on a complaint by his family.
ED also questioned Rhea’s associate Samuel Miranda in relation to the death of the actor. A few days back, after ED registered a money laundering case against Rhea under Personal Money Laundering Act (PMLA) involving the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, a team of the financial probe agency reached the residence of Chartered Accountant Sandeep Sridhar and quizzed him.
ED came into action after the case was registered by the ED against Rhea and her family members. It was over Rs 15 crore amount which was allegedly spent by Rhea. The sum was withdrawn from Sushant’s account, reportedly.
It was after Sushant’s father KK Singh had filed an FIR against Rhea in Patna. The ED has named Rhea and her family members in the case on the basis of the Bihar Police FIR.
Sources in the agency had told it had registered an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) on Friday and that it would “look into the allegation of suspicious transactions in the bank account of the actor. Suspected persons will be issued summons early next week to join the probe”.
Sushant Singh Rajput, a rising star in Hindi films, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. The Mumbai Police said it was suicide and has questioned over 50 people on allegations that the actor was suffering from depression and had felt sidelined because of cut-throat rivalries in the film industry.
The Bihar Police launched a parallel probe last week after the actor’s father filed a complaint against Rhea Chakraborty, accusing her of transferring money from his account, mentally harassing him and driving him to suicide. The complaint alleged that Rs 15 crore was missing from Sushant Singh’s account.
The Mumbai police says it has found no evidence of any financial wrongdoing by Rhea Chakraborty. On Wednesday, the Bihar Police’s case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following growing demand from politicians and the actor’s family.
Rhea Chakraborty, who has denied all charges, had also asked for a CBI probe last month. Breaking her silence on Friday, the actor said tearfully in a video released by her lawyers: “Truth shall prevail”.
“I have immense faith in god and the judiciary. I believe that I will get justice. Even though a lot of horrible things are being said about me on the electronic media, I refrain from commenting on the advice of my lawyers as the matter is sub-judice,” Rhea Chakraborty said in the video, her hands folded, her face tear-stained.
At this point, three agencies – the Mumbai Police, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI – have been tasked with investigating Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and events leading up to it.
(Mumbai Bureau with Agency inputs).
