05 September,2020 06:58 AM IST | Mumbai | Vishal Singh, Faizan Khan
Showik Chakraborty
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik, Sushant Singh Rajput's household manager Samuel Miranda and another drug peddler Kaizan Ibrahim as part of its probe into the drug angle in the actor's death case on Friday. Early in the morning, it had also raided the residence of Showik and Rhea and seized documents and old mobile phones.
The arrests took place after several hours of questioning," Deputy Director of Operations (NCB) KPS Malhotra, told mid-day.
"Showik was dealing with at least five-six drug peddlers. Rhea used to ask him to get drugs. So he would provide the contacts of drug peddlers to Miranda, who was responsible for picking them up and making payments," an officer privy to investigation said.
After arresting the duo, Rhea was also summoned for questioning. After the raid, Miranda and Rhea's brother, Showik, were brought to the NCB office for questioning.
The agency had early on Friday also raided Miranda and Rhea's residences and seized documents and old mobile phones. The raid was led by Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede who was recently appointed as the NCB's zonal director for Mumbai.
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Rhea Chakraborty
Before Friday's arrests, the agency had arrested four people and recovered 59 grams of marijuana (ganja).
Showik had also paid drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar via Google Pay. Arrested on Thursday, Parihar was remanded to NCB custody still September 9.
According to what has been revealed by arrested accused Zaid Vilatara, Parihar used to procure drugs from him and Ibrahim on the instructions of Showik. The drugs used to be picked up by Miranda. NCB also told the court that as per Parihar's statements, he is an active member of a drug syndicate connected with high-profile personalities and drugs suppliers. Payments were done through Google Pay.
"We showed evidence gathered during the probe and Miranda admitted that he was collecting drugs for Sushant from the peddlers," a senior NCB officer told mid-day. However, Showik has denied selling and purchasing drugs for profit or that he is part of a cartel.
On the other hand, the SIT of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recorded statements of senior pyschiatrist Harish Shetty on Friday. Rajput had visited Shetty once in 2014 for insomnia. According to the statement the doctor had given to Mumbai police earlier, Sushant did not have major issues but was prescribed medicines and asked to come for a follow-up appointment, but did not turn up.
In another development, actress Ragini Dwivedi was arrested by Bengaluru's Central Crime Branch (CCB), which is investigating consumption and trading of drugs in the Kannada film industry, on Friday. The Mumbai NCB is seeking information about the case as it suspects that people from the same gang are supplying drugs to both film industries.
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