Rhea's brother used to order drugs, make payments through GPay: NCB

Showik Chakraborty at NCB office. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Showik Chakraborty, brother of Rhea Chakraborty, used to purchase ganja and marijuana from drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar and make payments through a Google Pay account, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said on Friday.

The new revelations, made by the NCB in a Mumbai court as Parihar was produced before it, came after it started a probe into the drug angle in the case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead at his Bandra flat on June 14. The court sent Parihar to the NCB's custody till September 9.

NCB is the third Central agency to join the probe into the death of Sushant, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

According to NCB officials, drug-peddler Zaid Vilatra, who has also been arrested, in his statement to the agency, disclosed that Parihar used to be the "receiver" of ganja or marijuana from him.

"Parihar, in his statement, revealed that he used to procure drugs from Vilatra and absconding accused Kaizan Ebrahim, as per instructions of Showik, and was directing them to deliver contraband to Samuel Miranda, the house manager of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput," the NCB said.

The NCB said that there are other instances where Parihar facilitated the drugs delivery and he was in contact with Showik. "The payment for the drugs was done by Showik to Parihar through Google Pay account," the NCB claimed.

The NCB also said that it is clear from the statement and electronic evidence gathered by the agency that Parihar is an active member of drug syndicate connected with high society personalities.

Parihar was arrested by the NCB on Thursday evening by the NCB, while Vilatra was arrested on Wednesday and sent to the agency's custody till September 9.

Showik and Miranda were being questioned by the NCB at its office and later were arrested. The NCB officials also carried out searches on Friday morning at the residential premises of the two and also seized the laptop and mobile phone of Showik.

The NCB registered a case on August 26 on the ED wrote to it about the drugs angle, naming Rhea, her brother, talent manager Jaya Saha, Sushant's co-manager Shruti Modi, and Goa-based hotelier Gaurav Arya under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. This followed WhatsApp messages between Rhea and Shruti Modi, Miranda and Sushant's flatmate Siddharth Pithani coming to light.

On the intervening night of August 27-28, the agency carried out searches in Mumbai and arrested Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora, seizing 'bud' (curated marijuana) from their possession.

There were a few mentions of 'bud' in purported social media messages between people involved in the case.

According to an NCB official, detailed network analysis and the follow up investigation, uncovered the links between Lakhani and Vilatra, who also disclosed that he earns a substantial amount of money by drug peddling, especially bud.

Based on Vilatra's interrogation, Parihar was also questioned, and his links with Showik and Miranda were established, based on preliminary inquiry details submitted by the ED, the official said.

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