Tightening the noose around Rhea Chakraborty, the Office of Narcotics Control arrested her brother Showik and Sushant Singh Rajput’s home manager Samuel Miranda on Friday night while investigating the angle of drugs in the death of the Bollywood star. According to NCB officials, the duo were arrested after 10 hours of questioning.
Hours earlier, the NCB also conducted searches at Showik and Miranda’s residences. They also confiscated Showik’s laptop and mobile phone.
The NCB had also told a court that Showik used to order ganja and marijuana from drug dealer Abdul Basit Parihar and make payments through Google Pay.
The new revelations, made by the Office of Narcotics Control in a Mumbai court as Parihar was filed earlier, came after an investigation into the drugs angle was launched in the case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who he was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14. The court sent Parihar into the custody of the NCB until 9 September.
NCB is the third central agency to join the investigation into Sushant’s death, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
According to NCB officials, drug dealer Zaid Vilatra, who he has also arrested, in his statement to the agency revealed that Parihar used to be the “recipient” of ganja or marijuana from him.
“Parihar, in his statement, revealed that he used to get drugs from Vilatra and that he ran away accused Kaizan Ebrahim, according to Showik’s instructions, and was directing them to deliver contraband to Samuel Miranda, the house manager of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, “said the NCB.
The NCB said there are other cases where Parihar facilitated drug delivery and was in contact with Showik. “Showik made the payment for the drugs to Parihar through the Google Pay account,” the NCB stated.
The NCB also said that it is clear from the statement and the electronic evidence compiled by the agency that Parihar is an active member of the drug syndicate connected to high society personalities.
Parihar was arrested by the NCB on Thursday night by the NCB, while Vilatra was arrested on Wednesday and sent into the custody of the agency until September 9.
Showik and Miranda are being questioned by the OCN in their office. Morning NCB officials also searched the two’s residential facilities Friday morning and also took Showik’s laptop and mobile phone.
The NCB recorded a case on August 26 in the ED that wrote to him about the drug angle, naming Rhea, her brother, talent manager Jaya Saha, Sushant’s co-manager Shruti Modi, and the hotelier with Goa-based Gaurav Arya, under various sections of the Narcotic. Law on Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. This followed WhatsApp messages between Rhea and Shruti Modi, and Miranda and Sushant’s roommate Siddharth Pithani came to light.
On the intervening night of August 27-28, the agency conducted searches in Mumbai and arrested Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora, confiscating ‘bud’ (cured marijuana) from their possession.
There were some mentions of ‘outbreak’ in alleged social media posts among the people involved in the case.
According to an NCB official, detailed analysis of the network and follow-up investigation revealed links between Lakhani and Vilatra, who also revealed that he makes a substantial amount of money from drug trafficking, especially Bud.
Based on Vilatra’s interrogation, Parihar was also questioned and his links with Showik and Miranda were established, based on the details of the preliminary investigation presented by the ED, the official said.
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