Sushant Singh Rajput case: A year on, no answers

The demand for justice for Sushant was trending on social media ahead of his first death anniversary. File pics

A year on, actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case remains unsolved, and the demand for justice for him was trending on social media ahead of his first death anniversary today. Rajput was found dead in his rented apartment in Bandra on June 14, 2020. The case was initially probed by the Mumbai police which said it was suicide based on the postmortem report. It was later transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court, but the country's premier agency is tight-lipped about the investigation.

The case also took a political turn amidst a Bihar election following a complaint from Rajput's father, when Bihar police booked Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her family and his manager Shruti Modi. The charges included abetment to suicide, cheating, theft in dwelling house and punishment for criminal breach of trust. The Bihar police took over the case but the Mumbai police refused to cooperate, calling their FIR illegal, as the case was reported in their jurisdiction. The matter went to the Supreme Court which said the Bihar police FIR was valid and transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last year in August.

The CBI later said they have not reached a conclusion about Rajput's death and hence their investigation remained open. The CBI is still quiet as to whether actor was killed or committed suicide and if he had depression, anxiety, etc as per the doctors treating him. Queries to the CBI about the status of the case remained unanswered.

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The Mumbai police had continued their Accidental Death Report (ADR) inquiry which was registered at Bandra police station. A week after their initial probe the Mumbai police based on the postmortem report, confirmed that the actor hanged himself using a kurta. They also investigated a professional rivalry angle based on allegations on social media specially by producer Shekhar Kapoor. The Bandra police recorded statements of several high profile directors and producers which include Aditya Chopra, Mahesh Bhatt, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, etc. "We recorded many statements and examined his film contract papers. We didn't find anything substantial to investigate further as far as the professional rivalry angle is concerned," a Mumbai police officer said. According to Mumbai police, their investigation has confirmed that Rajput committed suicide. "We would have closed the inquiry but the original papers of the case were given to CBI for investigation. As soon as we get them back we will take a further step to close the ADR inquiry," the officer added.

More cases

The Enforcement Directorate also investigated the money laundering angle in the case, as Rajput's family has accused Rhea and her family of usurping crores of rupees which were missing from his account. The ED didn't find anything substantial but a drugs chat between Rhea, her brother and others. It was shared with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) which began investigating the drugs angle by registering FIR Number 15/20 against Rhea Chakraborty, her family and others. In this FIR the NCB recorded statements of celebrities including Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet, etc. But there is no progress in the probe. However, during the investigation of FIR 15/20 the NCB Mumbai registered another case, 16/20 and arrested a drug peddler from Powai. This case was later linked to Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik for supplying drugs to Rajput. The NCB in the month of September last year arrested Rhea, Showik, Rajput's manager Samuel Miranda and house help Deepesh Sawant. The case is still open.

June 14
When Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead