Sushant Singh Rajput's ex-flatmate Siddharth Pithani granted bail in drugs case linked to actor's death

Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput ’s ex-flatmate Siddharth Pithani has been granted bail in a narcotics case related to the actor’s death. He was arrested in May 2021 by Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) from Hyderabad. On Monday, the Bombay High Court’s Justice Bharati Dangre granted bail to Pithani on a bond of Rs 50,000. Pithani, currently in judicial custody, was booked under section 27 (A) (financing illicit traffic and harboring offenders) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, among other charges.

Pithani had filed a plea seeking bail on grounds that he was framed in a false case. In the bail plea, he had submitted that he was never found in possession of any drugs. Also, no evidence was found suggesting that he was involved in drug trafficking. For the unversed, Pithani used to work as a creative director in the same agency as Rajput’s close friend Ayush. He had met Rajput in 2019 and shared Mumbai’s plush apartment. He was also present at home when the actor died. In fact, he had told the police he was among the first to see Sushant hanging from the ceiling in his apartment.

After Rajput allegedly committed suicide in his Mumbai apartment in June 2020, the NCB investigated the death and arrested Pithani for an alleged drug supply racket based on some WhatsApp chats. Besides him, Rajput’s girlfriend and actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Shouvik Chakraborty as well as staff members at the late actor's residence were also charged in the case. While Rhea and her brother Shouvik were released a while later, Pithani has been granted bail almost a year since his arrest. Meanwhile, Mumbai Police or CBI investigations have failed to find any concrete evidence in the case.