Mumbai, September 26 : The Narcotics Control Bureau has registered two FIRs as part of its probe that followed the death by suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The first case (FIR 15/20) was on the basis of purported chats of actor Rhea Chakraborty that were retrieved by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that is probing a money laundering case against her. The ED provided these chats to NCB as they claimed that some of the chats were about marijuana.
Two days after this case, the NCB registered another FIR (16/20) suo moto with the express target of “uprooting the drug citadel in Bollywood” and have arrested 19 persons in the case, including Rhea and her brother Showik. So far no arrests have been made in the first FIR registered against Rhea.
No, apart from Rhea, who was arrested in the second FIR, no one has been arrested in the first FIR as yet. None of the actors have been named as accused. They have just been summoned on the basis of the chats the NCB found in phones of Chakraborty and Sushant Singh Rajput’s talent manager Jaya Saha, an employee of Kwan talent management company, in addition to some of the names that came up in the statements of those who have been questioned so far.
How did the names of Deepika Padukone, her manager and producer Madhu Mantena crop up?
NCB officials said they have summoned Deepika and her manager Karishma Prakash, another Kwan employee, based on some WhatsApp chats of Jaya Saha. Apart from them, even producer Madhu Mantena, also a Kwan director, was summoned on the basis of Saha’s questioning. Since Saha is named as an accused in the first FIR all of them have been called in connection with this case. Rakul Preet Singh too has been summoned in connection with this context.
What about Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor?
There are two versions here. While NCB sources said their names had come up during the interrogation of Rhea Chakraborty between September 6–9, before she was placed under arrest, her lawyer Satish Maneshinde has said Chakraborty has not mentioned any names during her interrogation. Sara and Shraddha have been summoned in FIR 16/20 in which Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and 17 others have been arrested.
What kind of action do the actors face?
NCB officials said that they will be questioning the actors based on the statements and chats that they have found in the investigation so far. Based on that they will decide on the future course of action. An official said they have six months to file a chargesheet in the case and they will take their time to decide who to charge in the case and what sections to be applied. While in an FIR all names are not specified, at the time of filing chargesheet, an agency has to specify the role of every accused.
When have the actors been summoned?
While Rakul Preet was summoned on September 24, the NCB officials have not been able to locate her and hence the summons has not yet been issued. Deepika and her manager Karishma have been summoned on Friday while Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor have been summoned on Saturday. (Indian Express)
