Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his flat in Mumbai in June.
Mumbai:
Dipesh Sawant, the cook of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, was arrested by the Bureau of Narcotics Control or NCB on Saturday in the ever-widening investigation into the drug abuse allegations surrounding the movie star’s death in June. Previously believed to be a witness in the case, Mr. Sawant was arrested after being questioned since morning. With this, the total number of people arrested in this case has risen to eight.
On Friday, the anti-narcotics agency arrested Showik Chakraborty, brother of Sushant Singh’s girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, and Samuel Miranda, manager of the actor’s home, under various sections of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
No drugs have yet been found in Showik Chakraborty and the NCB case so far has hinged on the discovery of 59 grams of cured marijuana from two men identified as Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora and the links they allegedly had with people close to Sushant Singh.
In its request for custody of Mr. Chakraborty, the NCB said it had “given so many names that it was dealing drugs with” and will now face its sister Rhea Chakraborty, who will likely be summoned for questioning on Sunday.
Three federal agencies are investigating various angles surrounding the 34-year-old actor’s death, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the NCB.
Under the intense gaze of the media for nearly three months that skyrocketed after Sushant Singh’s father accused Rhea Chakraborty of driving him to suicide, the only arrests in the case so far come from the angle of drug possession.
The NCB, which typically investigates drug cases involving several kilos of contraband, admitted that arrests for such small amounts of marijuana are rare.
“The Office of Narcotics Control is the most important agency for drug enforcement. We look at international connections and intrastate connections. Normally, this is not part of our mandate, but now that we are obtaining information we cannot avoid our responsibility “Mutha Ashok Jain, NCB’s deputy general manager, said.
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