Ahmed Ali & Rebecca Samervel (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 6, 2020)

Mumbai: Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on Friday night, has reportedly confessed that he arranged marijuana for the late actor for nearly seven months through a friend of Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik.

On Saturday evening, the NCB also arrested Sushant’s cook Deepesh Sawant on charges of delivering drugs to him. Sawant will be produced in court on Sunday. Meanwhile, Rhea, Rajput’s girlfriend, is likely to be summoned to the NCB office on Sunday, said officials. “We want to meet Rhea in front of Showik and Samuel to find out if she had any role in pushing Sushant into drugs,” an official said. Showik and Samuel have been remanded in NCB’s custody till September 9.

In a statement, Rhea’s father Lt Col (retd) Indrajit Chakraborty said, “Congratulations India, you have arrested my son, I’m sure next in the line is my daughter, and I don’t know who is next thereafter. You have effectively demolished a middle-class family. But, of course, for the sake of justice everything is justified. Jai Hind.”
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The agency arrested Dipesh Sawant; sought Showik Chakraborty’s custody for joint questioning with the other accused; plans to question him jointly with sister Rhea too
Somendranath Sharma (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 6, 2020)

A day after the arrest of actor Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik Chakraborty and late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Rajput’s employee Deepesh Sawant under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Sawant was made to join the investigation on Friday night at 10 pm and was brought face-to-face with Showik and Miranda.

“On the basis of enough corroborative evidence, he has been placed under arrest and will be produced before the Esplanade Court at 11 am on Sunday. No one else has been issued summons by the NCB. Further investigation in the case is under way,” said Deputy Director of NCB, KPS Malhotra.

Meanwhile, Showik Chakraborty, Miranda and another arrested suspect, Kaizan Ebrahim, were produced before the court on Saturday afternoon. While Showik and Miranda were remanded to NCB custody till September 9, Ebrahim was remanded to judicial custody but later secured bail for a surety of Rs 10,000.

While seeking Showik’s and Miranda’s custody, the NCB told the court on Saturday that joint questioning of Showik and the other accused needs to be conducted. The agency said his thorough custodial interrogation is required to uncover the network of sellers and buyers of narcotic substances. In its remand application submitted before the court, the NCB stated that Showik also needs to be questioned jointly with his sister. “The idea of taking custody is to make people confront each other to clarify their individual roles. In due course, we will also ask Rhea to join the investigation,” said deputy director general of NCB, Ashok Jain.

Until now, seven arrests have been made in the drugs case arising out of Rajput’s death in June. On August 28, the NCB had apprehended Abbas Lakhani, 21, a resident of Bandra with 46 gm of marijuana. Abbas told the agency that he had purchased the drug from one Karan Arora, who was later apprehended with 13 gm of marijuana in his possession.

Based on disclosures by Lakhani and Arora, the residence of one Zaid Vilatra was searched and he was arrested on September 1. The agency recovered Rs 9,55,750 in cash and some foreign currency, which he disclosed as the proceeds of drug peddling. Vilatra runs a restaurant at Bandra, which he said was running into losses because of the lockdown.

A senior NCB official said Vilatra, during his voluntary statement, disclosed the name of one Abdel Basit Parihar, who after his arrest on September 3 revealed that he used to procure drugs from Vilatra and Ebrahim as per Showik’s instructions. “Parihar is an active member of a drug syndicate connected with high profile personalities and drug suppliers. He used to pay and receive money via credit cards and cash,” the official said, adding that no contraband was seized after raids on Showik’s and Miranda’s residences.

In court on Saturday, the NCB said the financial trail of all previous transactions from drug purchase has to be verified. On the basis of call data records and WhatsApp chats, the agency also needs to identify some other people “deeply entrenched in drug trafficking, which is a serious threat to public safety and health”.

Meanwhile, the CBI, which is probing Rajput’s death and alleged criminal conspiracy, surveyed his Bandra flat with forensic experts on Saturday. Officials also interviewed his sister Mitu Singh and some friends, including Siddharth Pithani.