Rebecca Samervel (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 19, 2020)

Actor Rhea Chakraborty, in a fresh statement made through her advocate, has said she neither knows state minister Aaditya Thackeray nor has ever met him, reports Rebecca Samervel. “She has not spoken to him telephonically or otherwise, though she has heard of him as a leader of the Shiv Sena,” the statement said.

Bihar police have booked Rhea for allegedly abetting the suicide of her boyfriend, actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Unsubstantiated claims have been made about Thackeray’s link to the case.

Rhea’s statement further said that due to an incident that took place last April, when she had accused one of Sushant’s sisters of misbehaving with her, her ties with his family had been strained right from the beginning.
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Mumbai: In a fresh statement made through her advocate, Satish Maneshinde, actor Rhea Chakraborty has said, “Even after Sushant’s death when a list of 20 people was made to attend the funeral, Rhea’s name was not in it.” The statement said Rhea is the daughter of an Indian Army surgeon and a Maharashtrian housewife.

It said Sushant Singh Rajput and Rhea began dating soon after they attended a party hosted by the film fraternity in April last year. Maneshinde said the couple officially moved in together in December 2019 and lived at Mount Blanc, Bandra, until Rhea left on June 8. Sushant was found dead in same flat on June 14.

Rhea said Sushant had argued with his sister over her alleged misbehaviour and it was he who insisted that Rhea leave their home in suburban Bandra on June 8 as one his other sisters was supposed to come there to live with him.

“Sushant had been calling his family, informing them of his decision to move out of Mumbai and requesting them to come and meet him. After several days of Sushant’s calling and crying, his sister agreed to come to live with him on June 8,” the statement said.

Sushant requested Rhea to move in with her parents temporarily, but she was uncomfortable leaving him, the statement said. “Rhea had been suffering from her own anxiety issues and often endured panic attacks. Sushant’s conduct also aggravated these conditions,” it said, adding that on June 8, Rhea had arranged to have a therapy session and requested Sushant if she could leave after it was done. “However, Sushant told her to leave immediately before his sister arrived. Thus, Rhea reluctantly left and informed Sushant to let her or her brother know about anything he required or in case he needed to talk,” the statement said, questioning as to why Sushant’s family had waited for over 40 days to get the FIR registered in Bihar.

Maneshinde said that the comments made before the Supreme Court on August 11 made it evident that it had to do with politics more than with the truth. The statement said that Rhea only knows and had met actor Dino Morea socially as he is her senior in the film industry.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday recorded the statement of Sushant’s father K K Singh as part of its probe into the money-laundering case.
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Bank account audit shows no fraud: Cops

—V Narayan

Mumbai: A forensic audit of Sushant Singh’s financial details gathered from his bank did not show any instances of fraud or embezzlement, a police officer said. The Mumbai police on Monday received the audit report prepared by Grant Thornton, a tax advisory firm. Police commissioner Param Bir Singh said, “The investigation team is going through the report.” The police had sought the services of the firm to carry out a forensic audit.

The police probing the case had accessed Sushant’s bank transactions for the last 18 months and found Rs 18 crore in the account statement of which Rs 4.5 crore was the balance as deposits. Sushant’s father had alleged that money was siphoned off from the late actor’s accounts.

The report also speaks about money spent by Sushant and his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty for their Europe vacation trips, household expenses and staff payments that Sushant made from 2019 to 2020 so far.