07 September,2020 07:01 AM IST | Mumbai | Faizan Khan
Rhea Chakraborty arrives at the NCB office for questioning on Sunday. Pics/Atul Kamble
Days after registering an FIR (15/2020) against actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family based on chats related to a possible drug angle in the case, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is yet to make any headway in the matter. However, it has been working on a different FIR (16/2020) registered last month and has arrested eight people in the case. After questioning Rhea in the same matter for six hours on Sunday, the NCB got remand of the eight accused by connecting the case to Sushant's alleged suicide.
Before leaving for the NCB office, Rhea issued a statement through her lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, which says, "Rhea is ready for arrest as this is a witch-hunt and if loving someone is a crime, then she will face the consequences of it. She has not approached any court for anticipatory bail in all the cases foisted on her by the Bihar police, CBI, ED and NCB."
Rhea was questioned for over six hours by the NCB on Sunday
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After her questioning, DDG Ashok Jain briefed the press and said that Rhea had been summoned again on Monday for further questioning. However, he didn't answer the questions related to her possible arrest. After the briefing, mid-day asked him about the progress of the main FIR 15/2020 registered in connection with Sushant's death in which Rhea, her family and others have been named, to which he said, "We are doing everything legally and also consulting our legal team on FIR number 15/2020." However, he refused to speak about the progress of the case and whether Rhea was questioned related to it or the other FIR (16/2020).
On August 26, the NCB had registered an offence (15/2020) against Rhea, her family and others under section 20(b)/22/27/28/29 of NDPS Act. The FIR was registered based on Rhea's WhatsApp chats shared by the Enforcement Directorate. The NCB had mentioned that no seizure happened in the case as it was registered based on the chats.
Sushant Singh Rajput
On August 28, the NCB Mumbai and Delhi teams arrested drug peddlers Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora after they were found in possession of 46 gms of Marijuana and 59 gms of Ganja. An FIR (16/2020) was registered against them under NDPS.
Following this the agency arrested another peddler Zaid Vilatra, based on whose statement, they nabbed Abdel Basit Parihar and found that he used to sell Marijuana, Ganja and Bud. During his interrogation the agency got to know that he used to purchase drugs from Vilatra and another peddler Kaizan Ebrahim on the instructions of Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik Chakraborty, who directed them to be delivered to Sameul Miranda. And based on the statements of Basit and Kaizan, Miranda and Showik were arrested and sent to NCB custody till September 9.
On Saturday, the NCB also arrested Sushant's house help Deepesh Sawant based on a voluntary statement of Showik, who said that Parihar provided drugs to Sawant. Sawant was produced before the holiday court on Sunday and sent to NCB custody till September 9. However, all these arrests were made in FIR number 16/2020. While producing the accused before the court, NCB said, "We are investigating the drug angle in the SSR case. It's highly substantive and needs to be investigated thoroughly to uproot the drug citadel in Mumbai and especially in Bollywood."
Meanwhile, Sawant's lawyer Rajendra Rathod told mid-day, "My client was arrested for conspiracy under NDPS Act in a different case, which is not related to the SSR matter. The agency is claiming that they are investigating a larger high-profile drug syndicate, which is related to Bollywood and they mentioned Rajput's name in court. I have also filed an application before the court that my client was kept in illegal custody from September 4 and was produced before the court only on Sunday. The court has sought a response from the agency."
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