Rhea Chakraborty arrested in drugs case, in 14-day custody

After questioning her for three consecutive days, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty on Tuesday afternoon in connection with its investigation of a drug angle in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

“Rhea has been arrested and due process of informing the family has been completed,” said NCB deputy director KPS Malhotra.

Chakraborty’s arrest in connection with the NCB’s probe of the drug angle followed the arrest of her brother Showik, Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda and his house help Dipesh Sawant.

“We will not be seeking Rhea Chakraborty’s custody as we have questioned her for three days, but we will oppose if she moves for bail,” deputy director general Mutha Ashok Jain of NCB said.

Chakraborty, 28, was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act’s sections 8(c) (sale, possession or manufacture of banned drugs), 20(b)(ii) (possession or use of small quantity of banned drugs) and other relevant provisions.

“We have not found any contraband from Rhea and her brother Showik’s residence in Juhu. After three days of interrogation, we have sufficient material to arrest her, but I will not comment on the evidence in this case. We will produce that before the court,” said Jain.

Rajput, 34, was found dead at his Bandra residence in Mumbai on June 14 in what the city police said initially was a case of suicide. The death is now being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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“This is a complete travesty of justice,” Chakraborty’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said about her arrest.

At 7.30pm, NCB produced Chakraborty before a magistrate’s court via video conferencing after arresting her on the basis of statements by other people it has held in connection with the case, including her brother Showik.

The court remanded Chakraborty to 14-day judicial custody, rejecting her bail plea.

NCB said in its remand application that Chakraborty had revealed her involvement in procuring drugs.

“It is also clear from the statement that the present respondent (Chakraborty) used to procure drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput for consumption purpose. The present respondent used to manage finance for drug procurement along with Sushant Singh Rajput,” it said in the application.

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An NCB official said the agency had in its custody six other accused, including Showik, Miranda and Sawant, and three alleged drug peddlers, identified as Zaid Vilatra, Abdel Basit Parihar and Anuj Keshwani. “We will produce them before the court tomorrow. We will oppose their bail too. We have not sent any summons to any other person in this case. There should be no speculation beyond this,” added Jain.