The Bandra police station has registered a first information report (FIR) against late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s sisters Priyanka Singh and Mitu Singh and also Dr Tarun Kumar, an associate professor of cardiology in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, for abetting suicide, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under section 464, 465, 466, 468, 474, 306, 120 (B), 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with section 8 (c), 21, 22, and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, on the basis of a complaint filed by actor and Rajput’s live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty.
Rajput was found dead allegedly by suicide at his Bandra apartment on June 14.
HT has a copy of the FIR.
N Ambika, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (headquarters-1) and a spokesperson for Mumbai Police, said, “As per Rhea’s compliant, an FIR has been registered at Bandra police station. In line with the Supreme Court’s (SC) order, the case is duly transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation.”
On Monday, Rhea , who is at the centre of a raging controversy over her boyfriend’s death, filed a six-page complaint against the three persons cited above at Bandra police station for allegedly prescribing medicines for the deceased that are banned under the NDPS Act, 1985 and the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020.
The complaint will further queer the pitch in the high-profile case that has caught the nation’s imagination.
The CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have been carrying out separate probes into the case.
In her complaint, Rhea had said that she had stayed with Rajput from December 2019 to June 8, 2020. She had stated that during the course of her relationship she had learnt that Rajput was undergoing treatment for various mental health issues and had been diagnosed with suffering from bipolar disorder by multiple renowned doctors. “However, the deceased (Rajput) was not disciplined in respect of his treatment and would often abruptly stop his medication to the dismay of his doctors and myself,” the complaint stated.
“On the morning of June 8, the deceased had been on his mobile phone incessantly and when I asked what he was doing, he showed me the messages he was exchanging with his sister Priyanka Singh. I was shocked upon reading the said messages, as Priyanka had sent him a list of medications to take,” the complaint stated.
Rhea stated that she had explained to Rajput “that given the seriousness of his condition, and the fact that he already had medications prescribed by doctors, who had examined and treated him over several months, he ought not to take any other medication, least of all medication being prescribed by his sister, who has no medical degree.’
Rhea stated that this led to a disagreement between them, as Rajput insisted that he would only take the medicines that Priyanka was prescribing. “The deceased proceeded to ask me to leave the house as his other sister Meethu Singh was coming to live with him and she would take care of him,” Rhea stated.
She had left Rajput’s house shortly after the disagreement and never got to meet him, as he was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14.
Rhea stated that she was shocked to learn about Rajput’s father registering an FIR at Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna on July 25. “It was preposterous that such false allegations were being made out over 40 days after the demise of the deceased,” stated the complaint.
Rhea stated after the ED registered a case against her and her family members, all of them had handed over their mobile phones to the agency, which had proceeded to take a full data download of their devices.
“It appears that based on certain messages that come to light from the aforesaid data download, the NCB also registered a case against various accused, including me,” stated Rhea.
She stated that certain WhatsApp messages exchanged between Rajput and Priyanka on June 8 have come to light that are “disturbing and disclose the commission of various offences”.
“In the said messages, Priyanka had advised the deceased to take various medication controlled under the NDPS Act, 1985. Shockingly, it has now come to light that Priyanka had subsequently on the same day sent him a prescription by Dr Tarun Kumar, an associate professor of cardiology in Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi,” Rhea stated.
“The said document appears forged and fabricated. In addition, Dr Tarun Kumar appears to have prescribed medication under NDPS Act, 1985 to the deceased without any consultation as mandated by law. The drugs prescribed by Dr Kumar were prohibited from being prescribed electronically under the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines issued on March 25, 2020, which constitutes Appendix 5 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics Regulation, 2002),” the FIR added.
Rhea has stated that in the said prescription, Dr Kumar has prescribed Nexito 5 milligrams (mg), Librium 10 mg, and Lonazep MD 0.5 mg to Rajput to overcome his anxiety. “It is pertinent to note that the tablet Librium is Chlordiazepoxide which appears at item number 36 in the list of psychotropic substances under the NDPS Act, 1985, while Nexito and Lonazep MD contain Clonazepam that appears at item number 38 in the list,” the complaint stated.
Rhea has also claimed that the prescription prepared by them is fabricated because Rajput was shown undergoing treatment at an outdoor patient department (OPD) in a hospital in Delhi, while he was living in Mumbai. “The deceased died only five days after he had obtained the said prescription, where he was unlawfully prescribed psychotropic substances at the behest of Priyanka and Dr Kumar,” the complaint added.
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