Narcotics Control Bureau officers on Friday carried out searches at the residences of actor Rhea Chakraborty and Samuel Miranda, Sushant Singh’s former house manager in connection with the probe into a drug angle in Sushant’s death. Later, NCB officers began questioning Rhea’s brother Showik and Samuel Miranda separately. Meanwhile, CBI officers on Friday questioned Bunty Sajdeh, the CEO of Cornerstone firm that manages the accounts of cricket and Bollywood celebrities including Sushant Singh, in connection with the actor’s death.
Earlier, on Thursday, Vikas Singh, lawyer of Sushant’s father, alleged that facts clearly show Sushant did not die of suicide, but was murdered. The lawyer said though murder was not mentioned in the FIR filed in Patna, but facts and circumstances point towards the same. The lawyer rejected the statements given by Sushant’s sisters to Mumbai Police in which they did not mention Rhea’s name in connection with her brother’s suicide. The lawyer said that the statements were written in Marathi, which they did not understand and Mumbai Police asked them to sign. Such statements had no value, the lawyer said.
In our prime time show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Thursday, we showed what Sushant’s sister Mitu Singh told Patna police on July 16. The facts narrated in this statement are completely different from those mentioned in the statement given to Mumbai police. Our Patna reporter Nitish Chandra jotted down each and every word from the audio record of Mitu Singh’s statement and sent it to me which I went through. This statement is more detailed compared to the one said to be given to Mumbai Police and written in Marathi.
Mitu Singh said, she reached Sushant’s apartment on June 8 and came to know that Rhea and her brother Showik had left carrying two suitcases. She said, Rhea took her brother’s laptop, watch and camera while leaving and noticed Sushant quite upset. The next day, when news came about Disha Salian’s suicide, Sushant was more upset and told his Didi that Rhea and her family would trap him using his camera and laptop.
According to Mitu, Sushant’s staff told her that Rhea never allowed any outsider to meet Sushant and she, her brother and parents used to keep constant watch over him. If the four were absent, they used to keep Shruti Modi or Samuel Miranda to keep watch on Sushant. Rhea had blocked Sushant’s phone calls after leaving the flat. Mitu said, Rhea had the phone number of Sushant’s psychiatrist with her and it was difficult to reach out to the psychiatrist. Since Rhea had taken away the laptop, Mitu said, Sushant was worried that she could misuse his mails and social media and trap him. Sushant was quite afraid. Mitu left the flat on June 12 and before leaving asked Sidharth Pithani, Keshav, Niraj and Dipesh Sawant to take care of her brother.
On June 14, the day Sushant died, Mitu says, Sidharth Pithani called her up, said the bed room was locked from inside. Mitu asked him to knock the door, and left her house to visit her brother. On the way, Sidharth told her over phone that a locksmith has been called to open the door.
Mitu says, when she was 10 to 15 minutes away from her brother’s flat, Sidharth told her over phone that Sushant has hanged himself from the ceiling fan. When I reached Sushant’s home, I found her body lying on the bed, Mitu said. Police was called and the body was taken to Cooper hospital for post-mortem. Meanwhile, a strange thing happened, according to Mitu. Sandip Singh, whom she had never met, came to the house, took her to the hospital and made her sign the post-mortem documents.
In the statement, Mitu clearly says, Rhea, her brother Showik, mother Sandhya, father Indrajit, newly appointed staff Shruti Modi and Samuel Miranda caused her brother’s death by giving him wrong medicines, by keeping him away from family members and by inflicting mental trauma on him.
About the meeting at Waterstone resort in November last year, where, according to Rhea’s lawyer, the sisters were heard planning to grab Sushant’s properties, Mitu says, Sushant was staying in the resort with Rhea and her brother, but when Mitu and the two sisters reached there, Rhea, her brother and parents left the resort and went to their Juhu flat. Sushant was quite happy on seeing his three sisters and he told his staff about them.
The next day at around 4 pm, Rhea came with her brother and parents to meet the sisters. Sushant told them that he would go to Chandigarh with his sisters and left for his room. Rhea tried to follow him to the room, but the sisters stopped her and said Sushant needed rest. Rhea went home and spoke on phone with Sushant. After sometime, Sushant came out of the room looking dejected. By that time, Shruti Modi and Samuel Miranda had left the resort without telling the sisters.
According to Mitu, Rhea’s brother Showik came late in the evening to the resort and took him to the lawns to discuss something. Sushant’s bodyguard Sahil informed the sisters. Sahil told them that ‘the entire family has come, Didi, kindly save Sir’. Mitu said, the three sisters saw Sushant talking to Rhea’s brother and parents. After some time, Sushant returned and abruptly told his sisters that he would not go to Chandigarh. The three sisters tried their best to change Sushant’s mind, even wept, but he did not agree. The three sisters then returned home.
In her statement to Patna police, Mitu has also narrated how Sushant first met Rhea. According to her, in April 2019, Sushant’s sister Priyanka had come with her husband to Sushant’s earlier flat at Capri Heights. There she met Rhea at a party. Later, one night at around 1 am, Rhea rang up Priyanka and said she was returning from a party and want to meet her brother Sushant at his home. Priyanka at first tried to stop her, but she insisted and turned up. Rhea stayed at the flat for the night, and later she started visiting her brother regularly.
According to Mitu, Rhea told Priyanka that Sushant’s family was a nice one, and in the meantime, her relationship with the actor developed. When Priyanka and her husband Sidharth booked their return tickets to Delhi, Rhea and Sushant insisted that they stay in Mumbai. Priyanka offered to stay but her husband left. Later, according to Mitu, Rhea made fake complaints about her to Sushant, and Priyanka returned to Delhi alone.
By that time, Rhea and her family members came quite closer to Sushant. According to Mitu, Sushant had hallucinations about ghosts at his flat in Capri Heights, and he started staying in Pawna farms or at Riverstone resort. In the meantime, Rhea had sacked all old employees and employed Shruti Modi, Samuel Miranda and other new staff in Sushant’s house.
During Dussehra holidays last year, Rhea and Sushant visited Europe, and called Rhea’s brother Showik to join them. Rhea, Sushant and Showik floated a company in which they were directors. Sushant fell ill, returned to India and stayed in Rhea’s Juhu flat, where bed, TV and other appliances were bought with Sushant’s money. Mitu says, the cook Keshav told her a middle-aged woman wearing in weird clothes used to come and perform occult practices on Sushant.
Mitu also told Patna police that Rhea and her brother Showik used to frequently hold parties at Sushant’s flat, even when the actor was ill. Costly wine, alcohol, five-star food and expensive cigarettes were served at these parties.
Mitu said, when she visited her brother in January this year, he was happy on meeting her. Sushant drove with her to Chandigarh, but due to constant pressures from Rhea over phone calls, Sushant had to cut short and return to Mumbai. Sushant’s accountant Rajat Mewati once told her that the actor’s expenses had increased and Sushant was worried. Mitu went with old cook Ashok to meet Sushant, but was not allowed to meet her brother. She was informed on WhatsApp that Sushant was unable to meet her. By that time, Rhea had sacked the accountant, and she started keeping all account details and the actor’s ATM cards with her.
In another development, on Thursday, Sushant’s psychiatrist Suzanne Walker was questioned by CBI. During questioning, she stood by what she had told Mumbai Police on July 16 that the actor was suffering from bipolar disorder and that his condition had started deteriorating in October and November last year. She told the sleuths that Rhea had told her that Sushant was often having ‘suicidal thoughts’. She said, Sushant was aware of his disease but was not taking medicines.
Suzanne Walker said, on October 30 last year, she got a WhatsApp message from Shruti Modi seeking an appointment because Sushant was suffering from anxiety for last ten days. She gave an appointment for November 4, but Shruti cancelled that on the same day. On November 7, Rhea contacted her on WhatsApp and sought an appointment, but on the same day, since his mental condition was not well, he could not come. She gave another appointment date for November 15, but Rhea insisted on an earlier date. The doctor asked her whether he was getting suicidal tendencies, and Rhea replied Yes. She also told her that the actor was getting treatment from another psychiatrist Nikita Shah.
On November 7 at around 4.45 pm Rhea and Sushant came to her clinic, I asked Rhea to stand outside and had a clinical discussion with Sushant, Dr Walker said in her statement. After discussion, she reached the conclusion that Sushant’s condition was very serious. ‘Taking a scale of 1 to 10 for anxiety, his mental condition had reached 9’, said Suzanne Walker.
In her statement, Suzanne Walker said: “His anxiety had increased a lot in 2013-14. When he was young, he had taken Aderol medicine, twice every week to increase his concentration, as a treatment of ADHD. He was very shy. Hence, his peers used to tease him. When he was 15 -16 years old, his mother had passed away due to panic attack.”
“According to what he told me, he was very close to his mother. After her death, he was close to his sister, but I found him not close to his father. Mr Sushant Singh discussed about space, astronomy and physics. His speech and behaviour were completely irrelevant and very fast. On that, I was sure that Sushant Singh Rajput is suffering from bipolar disorder.”
Psychiatrist Suzanne Walker’s statement is clear. She also got Sushant checked by anther psychiatrist Perveen Dadachanji. Both agreed that Sushant was suffering from bipolar disorder. They opined that Sushant was quite dejected, needed medication, and was having negative thoughts. Both the doctors believe that the actor may have committed suicide. The question now is: who is responsible for this suicide?
But Mitu Singh’s statement is completely at variance with the opinion of the two psychiatrists. This has complicated matters. Attention must be paid to the statements given by Sushant’s sisters because these are issues that have been widely raised in the media. Mitu Singh’s observation that her brother’s condition took a nosedive when he came in contact with Rhea deserves to be noted. Her assertions that Rhea took complete control over Sushant’s personal life and his finances, kept him away from his family members, took helped from occult practices, had turned his brother a mental wreck. The mystery is now deep. But the question remains: what was the motive behind causing Sushant’s death?