No mention of 'drug peddler' link with Rhea, Showik in remand

Rhea Chakraborty

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is investigating the drug angle in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's death, told the court during the remand hearing on Thursday that they need to interrogate drug peddler Zaid Vilatra custody so as to uproot drugs citadel in Mumbai.

'Seven days NCB custody'

The agency produced Vilatra before a metropolitan magistrate court, which remanded him to NCB's custody for seven days. "The NCB is investigating the drug angle in the case of Rajput's death and therefore, it is highly substantive and needs to be investigated thoroughly so as to uproot the drug citadel in Mumbai, and especially Bollywood," NCB told the court.

However, in the remand copy, there was no mention of actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty, who is alleged to have bought drugs from Vilatra. According to the information the Enforcement Directorate shared with the NCB, Showik had once forwarded Vilatra's contact number to Sushant's former house manager Samuel Miranda, and asked him to pay R10,000 to Vilatra, who allegedly gave him 5 grams of some drug.

'Statement forced'

Vilatra's lawyer Tarak Sayyed also pointed this out to the court and alleged that the NCB was ill-treating his client. "My client has not given a voluntary statement... The NCB ill-treated him and pressured him to say so," the lawyer told mid-day.

Zaid Vilatra (far right) with NCB officers outside Killa court on Thursday. PIC/Suresh K K

The public prosecutor, however, verbally told the court that Vilatra's remand was also needed to investigate if there were links between Zaid, Showik and Rhea.

Also Read: Sushant-Rhea case: Can cops book people in drug-related cases based on chats?

The NCB also told the court that based on information from Abbas Lakhani and Karn Arora, arrested last month in another narcotics case, they raided Vilatra's premises and seized R9,55,750, US $2,081, £180 and 15 UAE dirham. In his statement, Vilatra said that the seized amount was sale proceeds of contraband, like marijuna and psychotropic substance, which he supplied to many people and also disclosed a few names, NCB said.

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