Sushant Singh Rajput death: NCB files 12,000-page chargesheet in drugs case

Sushant Singh Rajput. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which has been probing the drug angle related to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, filed its chargesheet in the special NDPS court on Friday.

Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik are among the accused in the case.

The main chargesheet is said to be 12,000-page long and the anti-drug agency has also submitted evidence in DVD's which is over 50,000-page long.

"The chargesheet consists of a total of about 11,700 pages, including all annexures. Due to ecological concerns, a large portion of annexures have been submitted in electronic form. On conclusion of further investigations, supplementary charges shall be filed as per law," NCB said.

The chargesheet includes statements of more than 200 witnesses against all 33 accused, including Rhea Chakraborty, Showik Chakraborty, Sushant Singh Rajput house help Deepesh Sawant and his former manager Samuel Miranda.

There are two foreign nationals Agisilaos Demetriades, the brother of actor Arjun Rampal's South African girlfriend and model Gabriella Demetriades, Kshitij Prasad, a former executive producer connected with Dharma Productions and two college students who are said to be the last mile peddlers, who are named.

"Out of these 33 persons, 8 persons are still in judicial custody while the rest have been granted bail. Further investigation is continuing in respect of several other known and unknown persons," the NCB said.

The agency said that during the course of the investigation, several seizures of various narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances, electronic gadgets and Indian as well as foreign currency were affected.

"The technical gadgets and the mobile phones were analysed and the relevant incriminating evidence regarding the sale, purchase, procurement, consumption and possession of narcotics drugs were extracted. The case was thoroughly investigated on the basis of seizures effected from the accused persons, voluntary disclosure statements, technical evidence i.e. connectivity through call details, WhatsApp chats, details of bank accounts/financial transactions and other oral and documentary evidence," NCB added.

However, senior officials remained tightlipped on the issue and declined to come on record.

In August last year, the NCB Mumbai had registered two cases related to the drugs angle which emerged in the investigations into Sushant's death.

Moving swiftly, the NCB had arrested Rhea and Showik, and several other persons in September last year, creating an upheaval in Bollywood circles.

The Chakraborty siblings and several other arrested-accused are currently out on bail.

On the morning of June 14, 2020, Sushant, 34, was found hanging at his duplex rented flat in a posh building in Bandra, triggering a massive furore in Bollywood and political circles.

Subsequently, the NCB spread its net wide and questioned several celebrities, including Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh, Karishma Prakash, and had nabbed comedian couple Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa, who are now bailed out.

Simultaneously, the NCB has gone hammer and tongs after the drugs mafia in Mumbai with a series of seizures and arrests from Mumbai and surroundings in the past six months.

The Maharashtra government has repeatedly demanded that the CBI should make public the findings of the probe into Sushant's death -- whether it was suicide or murder -- in public interest.

(With inputs from IANS)