Actor Rhea Chakraborty appeared before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for questioning for a second day in a row on Monday as part of the agency’s investigation into a drug case linked to the investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in June. .
She arrived at the agency’s office in the Ballard Estate area around 9:30 a.m., escorted by police.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are also investigating various angles surrounding the 34-year-old Rajput’s death.
What will happen today?
Chakraborty would be questioned in the presence of her younger brother Showik, the Rajput household manager Samuel Miranda, his domestic helper Dinesh Sawant and Zaid Vilatra.
Sameer Wankhede, NCB area director, said the 28-year-old was called back because the questioning could not be completed on Sunday due to her late arrival.
The agency has said it wants to question Rhea and confront her with Showik, Miranda and Sawant. She wants to determine their roles in this alleged drug trade after she obtained cell phone chat logs and other electronic data that suggested that these people allegedly acquired some prohibited drugs.
Marathon questioning
She was interrogated for about six hours by the agency for the first time in this case on Sunday. Prior to this, she has been questioned by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of their investigation into the death of the Rajput.
Witch hunt
Her lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, reiterated that she is innocent, she said hours before her questioning began on Sunday.
“Rea is ready to be arrested as this is a witch hunt and if loving someone is a crime, she will face the consequences of her love. Being innocent, she has not approached any court to obtain advance bail in all the cases charged by the Bihar police now with CBI, ED and NCB, “Maneshinde said on Sunday.
What has happened so far?
So far, the NCB has arrested eight people, six of whom are directly related to this investigation, while two were arrested when the investigation began under the criminal sections of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora were the first men to be arrested by NCB for alleged drug trafficking when the case was investigated. According to the officials, they contacted Zaid Vilatra and Abdel Basit Parihar, who are allegedly linked to this drug case because they are in contact with Miranda, through them.
Both Lakhani and Arora have been released on bail.
What did NCB say?
NCB, while seeking pretrial detention for one of the defendants in this case last week, had told a local court that it was investigating “the drug citadel in Mumbai, and especially Bollywood” in this investigation. This case has given the NCB a “hint” of the narcotics ring and its penetration into the Bollywood or Hindi film industry, NCB deputy director general Mutha Ashok Jain told reporters.
Authorities have said that Miranda allegedly used to obtain medication from them following Showik’s alleged instructions, agency officials said.
NCB said that, in his request for pretrial detention, Showik had to be confronted “with other defendants who are in his custody to discover the links in the network that were dedicated to selling and buying drugs.” The agency also said it needed Showik in custody to investigate the allegations against Rhea Chakraborty and Sawant. The NCB said Showik was also needed to verify the financial trail.
According to the NCB, the alleged drug dealer Abdel Basit Parihar had said during interrogation that he acquired drugs from Vilatra and Ebrahim, following Showik’s instructions. He also claimed that Showik told him to give Miranda drugs. NCB officials said Showik’s phone messages include one in which he asked Miranda to pay Vilatra 10,000 rupees for five grams of ‘bud,’ a cured form of marijuana.
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