Ahmed Ali (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 3, 2020)

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday arrested two persons believed to be drug peddlers after their names came up in the “drug chats” that have surfaced in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide investigation.

NCB officials said they had detained two suspects and investigations were on.

The NCB arrested Zaid Vilatra and Basit Parihar, both residents of Bandra, and recovered Rs 10 lakh in Indian as well as foreign currency, which the officials said were the proceeds of drug peddling. Sources said that Vilatra was a big supplier of marijuana in the party circles and supplied to Bollywood celebrities. He was also in the contact list of Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik.

The NCB last week registering an offence under sections 20 (b) 28, 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against Chakraborty, Showik, Jaya Saha, Rajput’s co-manager Shruti Modi and others, after the ED shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.

Officials said their names also figured during the interrogation of two arrested accused, Abbas Ramzan Ali Lakhani and Karn Arora. They recovered 59 grams of marijuna from their possession on Saturday.

“The detailed network analysis and follow up investigation uncovered the linkages of Abbas Lakhani with one Zaid Vilatra,” an NCB press release said.

Vilatra disclosed that he runs an eatery in Bandra (west) but because of the Covid-19 lockdown his business was not giving him profits and so he took to drug peddling and he used to make substantial money by selling the drug “bud”.

Based on his interrogation, Basit Parihar, a resident of Bandra, was made to join the investigation.

“Linkages of Basit were found and the matter is under investigation” the press release said.

Officials said that Parihar was connected with Chakraborty’s friend Samuel Miranda, who has been booked by the CBI in a case related to Rajput’s death.
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Somendranath Sharma (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 3, 2020)

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested two people for links with a drug syndicate in Mumbai. Agency sources said the accused had revealed that they were in touch with Showik Chakraborty, brother of actor Rhea.

The NCB said it had received evidence from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) containing transcripts of chats between Rhea and others related to drug consumption, procurement and transportation. Taking cognisance, the NCB conducted preliminary enquiry and launched an investigation into the matter.

“On the intervening night of August 27 and 28, based on specific input, a raid was conducted in Mumbai and two people – namely Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora – were arrested and seizure of bud [curated marijuana] was affected from their possession. A detailed network analysis and follow-up investigation uncovered links between Abbas Lakhani with one Zaid Vilatra, a resident of Bandra,” an NCB official said.

“After due procedure and taking evidence on record, Zaid was apprehended on Tuesday. During the search, Indian currency (Rs 9,55,750) and foreign currency (2,081 US dollars, 180 British pounds and 15 dirhams) were recovered, which Zaid disclosed as proceeds of drug peddling.”

Based on Zaid’s interrogation, Basit Parihar, also a Bandra resident, was made to join the investigation, the official said.

“During Basit’s interrogation we learned about his links with Showik Chakraborty. Showik used to purchase drugs from Basit. This was established from the chat records of Basit and Showik. They will be produced in court on Thursday. They have been booked under Section 27A (punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,” another official said.