Sushant Singh Rajput Death: NCB Files Charge Sheet; Accuses Rhea Chakraborty Of Being Part Of A Drug Syndicate

The Narcotics Control Bureau on Friday filed a charge sheet before a special court here in the drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, naming 33 accused including his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty. The charge sheet accuses Chakraborty of being part of a "drug syndicate" and claims she was part of a conspiracy to procure and supply drugs, NCB sources said. Besides Rhea and her brother Showik Chakraborty, other accused named in the case include Kshitij Prasad, former executive producer of Dharmatic Entertainment; Deepesh Sawant, a member of Rajput's domestic staff; suspected drug peddlers Zaid Vilatra and Abdel Basit Parihar and Samuel Miranda. Of the 33 accused, eight are still in judicial custody while the rest including Rhea and her brother are out on bail.

According to the NCB sources, charge sheet claims that in the last week of November 2019, delivery of drugs was made at Rhea's residence with her consent. She allowed Rajput to use her house for drugs consumption, and also provided money for purchase of drugs, thus `financing an activity' related to illicit drug dealings, the agency alleged. She had also facilitated "a channel of supply" of drugs with the help of her brother and it was clear from her statement that she was an "active member of the drug syndicate", and conspired to "procure, possess, sell and transport, import interstate, export interstate and deal with ganja, marijuana, bud", the charge sheet said, as per the sources.

Co-accused Miranda told the agency that in November 2019 he paid suspected peddler Karamjeet Singh Anand for two packets of ganja and gave them to Showik, sources said. The payment was allegedly made from Rajput's funds. A substantial quantity of narcotic drugs including charas, ganja, LSD, Ecstacy and psychotropic substances Alprazolam and Clonazepam were seized besides Indian and foreign currency during investigation, the agency claimed.

The charge sheet includes statements of some 160 witnesses and consists of a total of about 11,700 pages. Due to "ecological concerns" a large portion of the annexure was submitted to the court in electronic form, NCB officials said. Besides WhatsApp, the accused were using other messaging apps including Telegram too, officials said. The NCB has invoked various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the case.

Apart from charges related to supply and procurement of drugs, some of the accused are charged with financing illicit trafficking and harboring offenders. The NCB began probing the alleged use of drugs in some quarters in Bollywood after the death of Rajput (34) in June last year. The central agency started its probe on the basis of some WhatsApp chats having reference to drugs. Statements of Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan had also been recorded during the probe.