New Delhi: Actor Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik and Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda have “confessed” that they were arranging drugs for the late Bollywood star and facilitating their delivery, a source in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has told ThePrint.
According to the NCB source, Rajput’s personal staffer Dipesh Sawant, who was arrested Saturday, also “procured drugs” for him.
While the men said they mainly procured bud, a curated form of marijuana, for Rajput, NCB suspects they may have facilitated the delivery of other drugs as well, the source said.
“The accused have revealed that they indeed were in touch with drug suppliers and procured and facilitated delivery of drugs to Sushant and even Rhea,” the source said.
The NCB is one of the agencies involved in investigating the various aspects thrown up by Rajput’s death. India’s apex drugs law enforcement agency filed a case last month after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), while probing an alleged money laundering angle, claimed to have found several WhatsApp chats of Rhea and Showik related to consumption, procurement and transportation of drugs.
Showik and Miranda were arrested Friday night and are currently in custody for interrogation. Before he was arrested by the NCB, Sawant was interrogated multiple times by the CBI in connection with the Rajput investigation.
Miranda and Showik have been booked for illegal possession, transportation and consumption of contraband. So far, the NCB has arrested eight people in the case and three are on remand.
Announcing Sawant’s arrest Saturday, NCB Deputy Director K.P.S. Malhotra said he had been booked under “the provisions of the National Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act… on the basis of corroborative evidence”.
“No summons have been issued to any other person today by NCB. Further investigation in this case is underway,” he added.
Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai home on 14 June. His death was initially believed to be a suicide, but the investigation has since diversified to look into his family’s claims that Rhea and her family cheated him out of his money, among other allegations.
Three agencies are currently involved in the investigation, the ED, the CBI and the NCB.
Rhea, who was Sushant’s girlfriend, has claimed in television interviews that she is innocent of any role in his death.
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‘Showik has given many names’
The aforementioned NCB source said that, during his interrogation, Showik gave “many names (of people) with whom he was dealing in drugs and now he has to be confronted with all (the people)”.
“Through custodial interrogation we will uncover the various linkages of networks who were involved in selling and purchasing narcotic drugs,” the source said.
“Showik has to be confronted with Dipesh Sawant and Rhea, there are specific roles of criminal conspiracy, abetment and various attempts to commit offences,” the source added.
The source said the financial trail of all their drug purchases will also be verified.
The investigation into the Rajput case has allegedly led the NCB to discover a “widely-prevalent” drug culture in Bollywood.
The source quoted above said the ongoing investigation is “an attempt to uproot the drug citadel in Mumbai especially in Bollywood”, adding that they have got “relevant proof” and “a strong case”.
The source said the interrogation of Showik, Miranda and Sawant has helped them find “many links” that hint at the involvement of some “very influential” names.
“This investigation is centred upon busting this ongoing drug nexus within Bollywood and we are zeroing upon the main dealers, middlemen, suppliers and even carriers. The buyers who are engaging these men are also on our radar and we will soon be summoning more people to join the investigation,” the source said.
“We have with us some important names including those of dealers, suppliers and customers, out of which some people have switched off their phones and gone off the radar. Some are absconding. We will be conducting more raids in days to come,” the source said.
A second source added that it is not just marijuana but other psychotropic substances as well that “are procured and delivered on direct orders to personalities within the film industry”. The dealings, the source added, were almost “happening openly”.
Probing ‘the nexus’
The eight people arrested in the case so far are Showik, Miranda, Sawant, Zaid and Kaizan (two suspected drug dealers), and three others identified as Abbas Ramzan Ali, Karan Arora and Abdel Basit Parihar.
The alleged nexus of these drug dealers and their suspected association with Showik came to light after the arrest of Abbas Ramzan Ali on 28 August. He was allegedly arrested with 46 grams of marijuana on his person.
Abbas allegedly told the NCB that he purchased the drug from Arora, who was subsequently apprehended. Based on the duo’s purported claims, Zaid Vilatra was searched and found to be in possession of Rs 9,55,750 in Indian currency, $2,081 (US dollars), £180 (UK pounds) and 15 Dirhams (UAE).
Zaid allegedly told the NCB that the money constituted “sales proceeds of contraband (marijuana and psychotropic substances)” he had supplied to many persons, and he also disclosed a few names.
Among those believed to have been identified by him is Parihar, an alleged recipient of drugs. Parihar is alleged to have told the NCB that he used to procure drugs from Zaid and one Kaizan Ebrahim on Showik’s instructions.
One of the NCB sources quoted above said there are other instances “where Basit facilitated the drugs and he was in contact with Samuel Miranda and Showik”.
“Basit is an active member of the drug syndicate connected with high-profile personalities and drug suppliers. He used to pay and receive money via credit card, cash and payment gateways,” the source added.
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Ha think of Sushant, such an intelligent innocent son of Mr K K Singh who was murdered!
For greater good of India ( which involves being blind about economy , security and daily rape and murder of minors ) a middle class army officers family is being sacrificed. This kind of scapegoating often happened in the past also.
How sushant family ruined. A 24 year old boys life for procuring weed for the son of their family who had bi polar.