Rhea Chakraborty, who dated movie star Sushant Singh Rajput, was arrested on September 9.
New Delhi:
The bail requests of actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik, who have been in jail for nearly three weeks on drugs-related charges linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation, will be heard by the Bombay High Court today. Five more accused, including Sushant Singh Rajput’s employees, are also seeking bail.
Rhea Chakraborty, who dated movie star Sushant Singh Rajput, was arrested on September 9 on charges of organizing drugs for him.
On Monday, the Narcotics Control Bureau submitted a statement opposing bail for Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, saying they bought drugs not for their own use but to supply them to Sushant Singh Rajput, which is “a more serious offense” related to the funding of drugs.
“Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, this is the most serious crime,” Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede has said in his written submission.
Rhea Chakraborty also used her home to buy and store drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput, says the officer, saying she was therefore guilty of “harbouring drugs”.
The agency has also said that it has electronic evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats to prove that Rhea Chakraborty was involved in illegal funding of drugs. On September 9, the bureau had described the 28-year-old actor as an “active member of a drug syndicate”.
In the previous bail hearing last week, Rhea Chakraborty had challenged the Narcotics Control Bureau’s jurisdiction and had said that the CBI should take over since it was mandated by the Supreme Court to probe all aspects of the case. In response, the anti-drugs agency has said that it has the right to investigate the drugs case linked to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
Rhea Chakraborty’s bail plea alleges a witch-hunt by the Narcotics Control Bureau at the instance of three central agencies without any evidence. She also alleges that Sushant Singh Rajput “took advantage of those closest to him to sustain his drug habit” and that he “was the only consumer of drugs and that he was directing his staff members to procure his drugs”.
Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. The Mumbai police launched a suicide probe but weeks after the actor’s family filed a case accusing his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of mentally harassing him, taking money from his accounts and playing a role in his death, the investigation was handed over to the CBI. The Narcotics Control Bureau stepped in when WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea Chakraborty’s phone revealed conversations involving drugs.
The investigation has widened into a drugs-and-Bollywood hunt in which top actors, Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan have also been questioned.
