CBI sleuths investigating actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death mystery have gone into a fast mode right from Day One. On Friday, they divided themselves into five teams to tackle the case from different angles. The first team has begun work on questioning the suspects, the second team is busy examining all evidences and documents, the third one is handling the most vital one – exploring whether there was foul play or cover-up, the fourth team will go to Sushant’s apartment to recreate the scene at the time of his death, and the fifth team consisting of forensic experts is examining post mortem report, viscera report and may carry out a dummy test.
The first team will complete questioning of four eyewitnesses who were the only one who were present when the door of Sushant’s bedroom was broken – Niraj Kumar, Dipesh Sawant, Keshab and Siddharth Pithani. The first three are domestic helps and Pithani was Sushant’s creative manager staying with him.
Niraj was the first person who was questioned by CBI on Friday. He was asked about his last conversation with the actor, what the actor ate or drank for the last time, who tried to open the door, who called the locksmith, who informed the police and what he saw when the door was forced open.
India TV reporter Sachin Chaudhary spoke to the locksmith Rafiq, who said, he got a call at around 1 pm to come and open a bedroom lock. When he went there, he saw three or four persons present outside the room. Rafiq told them that it was a computerized lock and it would take at least an hour to open. “There were in a hurry and asked me to break open the lock with a hammer”. While hammering the lock, Rafiq said, the persons were trying to listen whether any sound was emanating from inside the room. They told him that if the person wakes up, he should stop breaking the lock.
Rafiq said, the moment he broke open the lock, the others told him to pack up his tools and leave. He was not allowed to peep inside. Rafiq said, he immediately picked up his tools and left. The locksmith said, he got a call from Mumbai police after an hour asking him to come to their office.
‘I went to the sixth floor and saw a lot of policemen there. It was then that I came to know that actor Sushant Singh Rajput has died’, he told India TV. ‘When I went to the flat the first time, I did not notice Sushant’s sister, but later when police took me to the flat, I saw the actor’s sister’, he added.
The locksmith emphatically said that he was not allowed to see the scene inside the room. “Police called me twice or thrice, and I told them the same thing. I was not allowed to see anything inside the room.”
Sushant’s family members are raising two valid questions: Why was the locksmith shooed out the moment the door lock was broken? Why was Sushant’s sister not informed when the locksmith was called? CBI will have to find out the answers.
Sushant’s help Neeraj was the first to be questioned by CBI on Friday. India TV reporter Priya later asked Neeraj what he told the CBI sleuths.
“Boss woke up early at 6, he was in a happy mood, and walked on the terrace. I gave him a glass of cold water. Sir asked me whether everything was fine. I said, yes. He was in a happy mood. He went to his bedroom. That was my last meeting with Sir and I went downstairs.
“The cook asked what he would like to have for breakfast. Boss asked a glass of coconut water and pomegranate juice. The chef served him inside the room and left. At around 10.30 am, the chef went to collect the glasses, but the door was locked from inside. We normally opened the handle ourselves when Sir was at home, but on that day, the door was locked from inside.
“We though Sir might be sleeping, we did not want to disturb him. Twenty minutes later, Siddharth, who was downstairs, rang up Sir two times on his phone, but he did not pick up. He then rang up Sir’s sister, who told him she would ring him up, and if he did not take the call, she would come over. She also told Sidharth to open the door anyhow.”
According to Neeraj, CBI official asked him why they did not open the door with a duplicate key.
Neeraj said, “I told them we tried to find the key, but could not, and then it was decided to call a locksmith. The locksmith came and said, the lock can be broke open within five minutes, but it would take at least an hour to open the lock with a key. We asked him to break upon the lock. The moment the lock was broke open, we told the locksmith to leave even before the door was opened. And then we entered.
”Siddharth was the first to enter, followed by Dipesh, and I was the last. Keshav had gone to see off the locksmith downstairs. Siddharth was horrified on seeing Sushant’s body, and rushed out. We also saw and we went numb. Our minds practically stopped working. Sir was hanging from the ceiling fan.“
Time will tell to what extent CBI will trust Neeraj’s statement.
Neeraj also told India TV: “Rhea Ma’am was looking after the household expenses, because she was close to Sir. Rhea Ma’am was giving us orders more than Sir. She was handling most of the cash. She was practically the ‘maalkin’ (owner) for us…..Ma’am used to give medicines to Sir, we never gave medicines. Sir was well when he had gone to Europe, but after his return he seemed to be unwell.”
Neeraj also said, “on June 8, lunch was ready, but Rhea asked him to pack up her belongings. He packed two suitcases for her. That day, Sir refused to have lunch, saying he was not in a good mood.” Neeraj also said, Sushant once asked him whether he heard strange voices inside the flat. He told him, yes, he has also hear some strange voices. Sushant then told him, that he would got a pooja done at his farmhouse.
CBI has till now taken possession of three of Sushant’s cellphones, his laptop, the mug in which he drank juice on that fateful morning, bedsheet and blanket from the scene and CCTV footages of June 13 and 14. CBI sleuths will be reconstructing the scene at the flat soon. CBI will also have to ask doctors who conducted the post mortem why presence of pomegranate juice was not shown in the viscera report, when the helps are saying that Sushant had a glass of juice.
CBI will also have to find out why the locksmith was hurriedly asked to leave the moment the door lock was broken. All the statements and evidences collected so far point out towards the fact that Sushant was no facing any financial or professional crisis, he was popular and professionally successful, he had no enmity whatsoever with anybody, and the nepotism angle that was thrown in now appears to be baseless.
Then what was the reason behind Sushant’s death? CBI will have to find a logical answer supported by concrete circumstantial evidence. This does not appear to be an easy job at this moment.

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