The NDPS court in Mumbai on Saturday sent actor Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik and Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda to NCB remand till September 9, while another drug peddler Kaizan Ebrahim was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody.
Satish Maneshinde, Rhea’s lawyer appearing for Showik, opposed the public prosecutor’s plea for remand saying that nothing incriminating in the form of drugs was found from their residence, and all electronic evidences have been taken away by the investigators. Maneshinde told the court that Showik had no previous criminal record, he was cooperating with the investigation agencies, and there was no need for taking him on remand. The court however ordered that both Showik and Samuel be sent on five days remand under NCB custody.
Narcotics Control Bureau officials had on Friday night arrested Showik and Samuel Miranda on charge of procuring drugs from peddlers. The two, along with a drug peddler Kaizan Ebrahim were produced in NDPS court on Saturday by NCB officials.
According to NCB officials, drug peddler Basit Parihar, who is already remanded till September 9, has admitted that he used to procure marijuana and hashish from drug peddlers Zaid Vilatra and Kaizan Ibrahim in order to supply them to Samuel Miranda, who, in turn, used to provide them at Sushant Singh’s residence. Showik and Samuel Miranda were booked under sections that pertain to production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase and transport of narcotics under NDPS Act. The offence carries a maximum punishment of one year imprisonment and fine.
NCB officials are also probing the role of Rhea Chakraborty, and have summoned her for questioning on Sunday. There is a probability that she may also be arrested. NCB officials are in possession of WhatsApp chats between Rhea and her associates in which they were clearly talking about procuring narcotics like Bud, a curated form of marijuana, sold in Bollywood for Rs 5,000 per gram. Rhea had said in her TV interviews that “Sushant Singh Rajput used to smoke marijuana and drink regularly.”
Though no narcotics have been found from Rhea and Showik’s residence, NCB officials say that Rhea’s WhatsApp chats with other individuals point to conspiracy and abetment. NCB officials had carried out searches in Rhea’s and Samuel Miranda’s residences on Friday before arresting her brother in the evening.
NCB officials have said that Zaid Vilatra, in his statement to the agency, has revealed that Basit Parihar, a peddler, used to procure marijuana and ganja from him and Kaizan Ibrahim, as per instructions of Showik Chakraborty, and was directing them to deliver these drugs to Samuel Miranda. The payment for drugs used to be made by Showik through Google Pay account, NCB officials said.
The noose is now tightening around Rhea Chakraborty, because her credit cards were being issued to buy narcotics. India TV reporter Rajesh Kumar has found out that Rhea’s credit cards were used to purchase drugs at least twelve times. NCB is now going to question Rhea and it appears to be an uphill job for her to convince the investigators about her innocence.
Incriminating WhatsApp chats that were initially deleted from Rhea’s cellphone, were later cloned by Enforcement Directorate sleuths and passed on to the NCB. These clearly point to her complicity in the purchase of banned drugs from peddlers. According to NCB, Showik was in direct contact with the peddlers and payments have been traced to their Google Pay accounts via credit cards. NCB carried out its work in a professional manner. It first rounded up the suspected drug peddlers and then cornered Rhea’s brother and Samuel Miranda.
Meanwhile, CBI sleuths on Saturday carried out a reconstruction of Sushant Singh Rajput’s ‘suicide’ in the presence of AIIMS doctors, Sushant’s sister Meetu Singh and Sushant’s staff Niraj, Keshav and Sidharth Pithani. Meetu Singh later went to CBI’s camp office at DRDO guest house to give her statement.
Already 15 days have passed since the CBI began its investigation into Sushant Singh’s death, and the agency seems to be facing an uphill task in taking its investigation to its logical conclusion. There are conflicting statements from psychiatrists. One expert said, Sushant was suffering from bipolar disorder, another psychiatrist said she did not find him to be suffering from bipolar disorder. One psychiatrist said, Sushant had suicidal tendencies, but the other doctor said that Sushant could have been suffering from depression but he never had suicidal tendencies. In all, five doctors at different points of time, treated the actor, and it is difficult for CBI to accept which doctor’s assessment as correct.
In our prime time show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Friday night, we showed a statement given by Dr Kersi Bomi Chavda, given to Patna police and procured by our Patna reporter Nitish Chandra. Dr Kersi Chavda had treated Sushant for seven months. He was treating him till a few days before his death. Dr Chavda told Patna police that Sushant was suffering from severe depression but he was not suffering from bipolar disorder. He said, Sushant had no suicidal tendencies, but his problems became acute when he stopped taking medicines regularly.
Dr Chavda, who works as a senior psychiatrist in Hinduja Hospital, treated Sushant from November, 2019 till June this year. He got Sushant admitted to Hinduja Hospital on November 27, examined him the next day, when the actor told him that he was feeling depressed, sad, and afraid. He went through cardio, neurological and gastro-intestinal checks, but was found physically fit. On November 30, Rhea rang up the doctor, said Sushant wanted to smoke cigarettes, the doctor said smoking was not allowed in hospital and if Sushant wanted he could take discharge. The actor was discharged from hospital the same day.
The doctor said he met Sushant nine times till his death, and also spoke over phone, but most of the time, it was Rhea who spoke to the doctor. Dr Chavda said, he visited Rhea’s home to examine Sushant twice, on December 1 and 5. He noted that though there had been some improvement in his symptoms, Sushant looked sad and lacked motivation. On December 20, Rhea phoned to tell the doctor that Sushant’s condition had improved and three days later, told him that they have shifted to a new apartment. Dr Chavda visited Sushant’s new apartment to congratulate him and found him happy. On January 9, Rhea rang him up to ask whether Sushant could be admitted to hospital again. The doctor said he was going outstation on leave and would respond on his return. On January 20, he was told that Sushant was going to Chandigarh to visit his sisters.
Dr Chavda told Patna police that Sushant’s condition improved in February and March, but since he had stopped taking medicines, his condition deteriorated afterwards. On March 20, when the doctor rang up, Rhea told him that Sushant had stopped taking medicines for last 15 days. He should not have done so, Dr Chavda told Patna police. For the next two months, there were no phone calls from Sushant.
Dr Chavda revealed that Rhea told him on June 3 itself that she was going to leave Sushant’s flat the next day. It means, Rhea had already made up her mind to leave Sushant five days in advance. She actually left on June 8.
Dr Chavda had prescribed Flunil 20 mg capsules to Sushant, an anti-depressant used in treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder or panic disorder. Regular dosage is a must and it must not be discontinued without concurrence of the doctor, because stoppage of medicine can cause withdrawal symptoms. Sushant was also taking Ativan medicine, a brand name for Lorazepam, that helps in raising activity of some neuro transmitters in the brain. Ativan is also given to treat anxiety and seizure disorder. Quitipin 50 mg tablet was also given to the actor. It is an antipsychotic medicine used to treat schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders.
It is now clear that Sushant started suffering from withdrawal symptoms because he had discontinued these medicines without consulting his doctor. Dr Chavda has also said that the actor used to take marijuana regularly and narcotics could have played havoc with his mental condition.