The judicial custody of Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik in a drugs case related to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death was extended till October 20 by a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act court (NDPS) in Mumbai on Tuesday. Apart from the Chakraborty siblings, the custody of 18 others arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the case has also been extended.
After WhatsApp chats regarding the use of drugs surfaced, Rhea Chakraborty and her brother were arrested by NCB for procuring and financing drugs for Rajput on his instructions. “The actor was involved in the illicit trafficking of drugs and she financed drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput,” NCB has stated. With similar allegations against her brother, they were slapped with stringent conditions of the NDPS act.
The bail applications were earlier rejected on September 11 by the NDPS court citing the possibility that the actor may alert others if released on bail and that might lead to contamination of evidence. However, Chakraborty maintains that she is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the case with the NCB coercing her into making “self-incriminatory” confessions.
The verdict of the 28-year-old actor and her brother’s bail plea has been reserved but the date on which it will be pronounced isn’t known yet. The central agency, which is probing the drugs angle in Rajput’s death, does not want Rhea and her brother to be released in order to send out a strong message to the youth against the consumption of drugs.
Chakrabortys’ lawyer advocate Satish Maneshinde has told the court that Rajput was in no dearth of funds. His house manager Samuel Miranda used to take care of “all” household expenses which is why Rhea has no role financing drug purchases for the deceased actor.
The 34-year-old actor was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai’s Bandra on June 14. Apart from NCB, Rajput’s death case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) whereas the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the alleged money laundering angle.