Prafulla Marpakwar (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 21, 2020)

Mumbai: A day after the Supreme Court entrusted probe in the mysterious death by suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the CBI, a high-level team of the central agency, led by Nupur Prasad, reached Mumbai on Thursday to take over the investigation.

A senior IPS official told TOI deputy commissioner of police Abhishek Trimukhe would coordinate with the CBI team. “CBI officials will interact with Trimukhe on Friday and take the relevant documents from him,” he said. Trimukhe is the zonal DCP in whose jurisdiction Rajput allegedly died by suicide on June 14.

When asked if Mumbai police would continue with its probe, the IPS official said the Supreme Court had made a specific observation on this point. “Our understanding is that the Mumbai police can continue with the probe. If it concludes that a criminal case has been made out, in that event, the case will be handed over to the CBI,’’ he said.

According to reports, the CBI has set up four independent teams led by joint director Manoj Shashidar and senior IPS officials Gagandeep Gambhir, Anil Yadav and Nupur Prasad. CBI officials are expected to interact with senior Mumbai police officials led by police commissioner Parambir Singh.

A senior BMC official said it has learnt lessons from its experience with the Patna police team that had come to Mumbai to probe the case. When Bihar IPS official Vinay Tiwari landed in Mumbai, he was quarantined by the BMC in view of the Coronavirus situation. However, the civic body has granted exemption from quarantine to all the CBI officers who will be visiting Mumbai to probe the case following an application by the central agency.

Yesterday, Rhea Chakraborty appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in the money laundering case filed in relation to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death on June 14. Rhea was grilled by the ED for over eight hours. Her brother Showik and her ex-manager Shruti Modi were also questioned by the ED. Here are the other developments in the case
BOMBAY TIMES (August 8, 2020)

- The Centre on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking to make itself a party to Rhea’s plea for transferring an FIR lodged against her in Patna to Mumbai, in connection with Sushant’s death.

- Rhea’s CDR (call data records) have been accessed. Some of that has come out in public domain, which showed that no calls were exchanged between Sushant and her between June 8 and June 14.

- Reportedly, six pages are missing from Sushant’s personal diary, which was found next to his body. Former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and senior advocate Vikas Singh, who is representing the family of the late actor said, “According to me, that diary is very important because if he was writing every day about what was in his mind then if he has committed, then something must have been there as to why he has taken this step or if it was a murder, there would have been something regarding who in his life was the threat.”

- Singh also added that the electronic evidence would play a crucial role in the probe as now the reliance would be on the photographs taken from the scene of the crime and during the post mortem and apart from this the CDRs would also be helpful in forming the chain of evidence in the absence of physical evidence.

- Questions are being raised on Mumbai Police’s investigation on various grounds.

- According to the CDR, reportedly four calls and one SMS have been exchanged between Rhea and DCP Bandra Abhishek Trimukhe. Both were in contact from June 20 to July 18.
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Actor’s father and manager also questioned for more than eight hours over Rajput’s father’s allegations related to financial irregularities and control of his life for their own advantage
Abhishek Sharan (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 8, 2020)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday grilled Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and two others for more than eight hours in connection with its probe into the money-laundering aspects of the Bollywood actor’s suicide on June 14 at his Bandra flat. The agency grilled the four people, who are all accused in the case, over allegations that as part of a criminal conspiracy led by Rhea, they had attempted to control Rajput’s life and finances, including bank accounts and credit cards, to their own financial advantage, agency sources said.

An ED source said Chakraborty strongly denied charges of any wrongdoing. According to the source, according to Chakraborty she/her family has an asset in the city, whose value could be around Rs 85 lakh, while bank loans worth Rs 60 lakh had been taken for the same.

Chakraborty, clad in a printed indigo kurta, white palazzo and with a white dupatta, arrived at ED’s south Mumbai office located at Ballard Estate, around noon with her brother Showik. She declined to make any comment to the media.

ED’s probe is based on a first information report (FIR) registered by Patna police’s Rajiv Nagar police station, on a complaint by Rajput’s father, Krishna Kishore Singh, wherein six people, including Chakraborty, a budding actor, are accused of criminal conspiracy, abetment to suicide, criminal breach of trust, theft and cheating. Apart from Chakraborty and Showik, her father, Indrajitm and her manager, Shruti Modi, also arrived at the ED office, and were asked for information and clarifications related to the case by the agency, according to sources. The accused have denied any wrongdoing. ED has called Showik and his father, Indrajit, on Monday again for further clarifications, sources said.

According to sources, ED asked Chakraborty to submit her income tax returns filings from April 2015 to March 2020, which she would submit through her legal team. The agency also asked her for details on her assets in Mumbai. According to sources, ED has received some property–related papers they had sought from the family. Chakraborty was also asked to furnish details on firms associated with her, which were owned by her or had her as a director/co-director, sources said. ED is verifying the circumstances under which Rajput, Chakraborty and Showik came together for business activities wherein two firms, Vividrage Rhealityx Pvt Ltd and Front India For World Foundation, are under the scanner. In both the firms, Sushant was a director. While Rhea was a director in one of the two firms, Showik was a director in both the firms. The two firms are based at a common address, located at A 503, sector 8, Ulwe, Navi Mumbai, where an ED team had already paid a visit for preliminary enquiry. ED is also verifying allegations that the accused had taken control of Rajput’s credit card/s, bank account/s and a laptop, the sources said.

Rajput’s father had alleged that up to Rs 15 crore had been siphoned off from his son’s accounts.

‘‘It was alleged by the deceased actor’s family that there were funds worth around Rs 17 crore in one of his bank accounts, 1011972***, from which around Rs 15 crore went to such accounts with which Rajput had no connection whatsoever,’’ a source said. ‘’It is being verified as to how much money came into Rajput’s accounts and credit cards and how much went out, to whom and for what purposes. The probe is in a preliminary stage,‘’ he said. Chakraborty and Showik left the ED office at around 9 pm, Indrajit and Modi left an hour earlier.

ED had earlier interrogated her alleged aide, house manager Samuel Miranda and Rajput’s chartered accountant, Sandeep Sridhar.

The agency had on Monday recorded the statement of Sridhar, on details related to the actor's financial activities, including his income/expenditure/investments and business forays via firms, over the past one year. Sridhar worked for the late actor over the past one year.

ED is looking into allegations that the accused had replaced Rajput’s employees with their own set of trusted/familiar employees, his credit cards and bank accounts were controlled by them. 

V Narayan (THE TIMES OF INDIA; July 19, 2020)

Mumbai: The statement of filmmaker Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films was recorded on Saturday as part of the police probe into the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

An officer from Bandra police station said, “Chopra said his production house had signed Sushant for three movies of which two were completed. The third ‘Paani’ did not work out due to some creative differences between him [Chopra] and director Shekhar Kapur.”

Chopra reportedly told them that there were no issues between Sushant and him. DCP Abhishek Trimukhe confirmed that Chopra’s statement was recorded.

The police have also recorded statements of four doctors who treated Sushant for depression.

A police officer said they have gone through Sushant’s bank account and they had found a few transactions that were done by his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty but it seems it was done with his knowledge.
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BOMBAY TIMES (July 19, 2020)

Mumbai Police on Saturday recorded the statement of Yash Raj Films’ (YRF) head, Aditya Chopra, as part of their investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide on June 14. He was reportedly interrogated for over four hours. The police are yet to release the filmmaker’s statement.

However, according to reports, Aditya Chopra refuted the claims made by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who had said that Sushant had slipped into depression after Paani, a project backed by YRF, was shelved.

Sushant had reportedly signed a three-film contract with the banner, and starred in two of their productions — Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (2015). He was scheduled to work in a third project — Shekhar Kapur’s Paani — but it got shelved.

Over the past few weeks, Mumbai Police have recorded the statements of several industry colleagues and friends of Sushant, including actress Rhea Chakraborty (his girlfriend), Sanjana Sanghi (his co-star of his last film, Dil Bechara) and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. On June 28, the police had also questioned Shanoo Sharma, a casting director at YRF, in connection with the probe.

Meanwhile, the hashtag #ImmediateCBIForSSR started trending on Twitter yesterday, as netizens kept demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the actor’s death.

V Narayan (THE TIMES OF INDIA; July 8, 2020)

Mumbai: The Bandra police probing Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide have contacted Twitter India seeking information on the source of the three suspected fake tweets that were allegedly posted by the actor hours before his death on June 14.

The action came after screenshots of the tweets went viral on social media. One of tweets mention that all posts will be deleted soon and that the actor was “done with mediocre success”, while another it appears that he was posting a suicide note.

The Bandra police have also sought details of tweets that Rajput may have posted and deleted in the last six months. Zonal DCP Abhishek Trimukhe said the Mumbai Police is awaiting a response from Twitter.

The police have also seized the CCTV recordings of the Mount Blanc building where Rajput lived. A police officer rubbished the allegation that the Bandra’s building’s CCTV camera was non-operational on the day the actor had died.

On June 25, TOI had reported that Rajput’s Twitter handle was inactive since December 27, 2019, when he had tweeted: “Right from exploring the local tourist attractions to experiencing the culture from a closer lens, it was just perfect! And what made it better was to get up to 5% cashback every-time I swiped my bank cards.”

However, recently social media has been abuzz with screenshots of three tweets that had been allegedly posted on the actor’s handle on June 14 around 5.43am, a few hours before his death.

The police have recorded 34 statements in this case so far, including filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, his staff members, family members and also officials of a production house. They plan to re-record the statements of his family members, said sources. The police are awaiting the forensic test report.

Former Yash Raj Films manager, Ashish Singh at Bandra police station to record his statement. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Cops say the actor might have first tried it but it tore; he then used green kurta by which he was found hanging
Faizan Khan (MID-DAY; June 27, 2020)

Further investigation into the alleged suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput by the Bandra police has revealed that before hanging himself using his green kurta, the actor tried to use a bathrobe belt to do the same but it tore off. In order to find out whether the kurta could hold his weight, the cops have sent it to the Kalina Forensic Science laboratory (FSL) for further verification.

According to sources, the Bandra police got suspicious when they saw the torn pieces of the belt lying on the floor while Sushant's body was on the bed. Those present in the flat at the time of the incident had cut the green kurta, which he used to hang himself, from the middle after recovering his body.

"Initially, we had doubts after seeing the torn pieces of the belt, but after a thorough inquiry we understood that the actor might have first tried to hang himself using the belt but it tore off while he was checking its strength," an officer said.

"During the spot panchnama we also learnt that his cupboard was opened and all his ironed clothes were scattered over the floor. We think after the bathrobe belt gave off, he pulled out his green kurta from the cupboard and all the other clothes fell off," the officer added.

Sources further said that the Kalina FSL would use equipment to measure tensile strength of the kurta and find out whether it could hold Sushant's weight. It is expected to submit a detailed analysis by the end of next week.

The cops also got suspicious when the witnesses told them that his body was hanging in an inclined position. According to sources, while doing the panchnama the investigating team found out that the height of the ceiling fan motor from the bed was 5 feet 11 inches and the actor's height was 5 feet 10 inches. They also measured the height of the fan from the inclined position of the body, which was 8 feet 1 inch.

"A thorough investigation was conducted but there is no foul play. Even the post-mortem report confirmed that there was no sign of struggle and even the circumstances suggest that he hanged himself in an inclined position," the officer further added.

The forensic team from the toxicology department would also conduct a chemical analysis test to find out whether he had consumed any toxic substance.

Meanwhile, the Bandra police recorded the statements of two former employees of Yash Raj Films production. They are the signatories in the contract signed by Sushant in 2012. The investigating team didn't reveal much about the statements but said they were important to ascertain if there was any professional rivalry. "So far we have received the statements of 25 people in connection with the actor's death and further investigation is on," said Abhishek Trimukhe, DCP Zone IX.

V Narayan (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 25, 2020)

Mumbai: Sushant Singh Rajput’s final post-mortem report from Cooper Hospital submitted to Bandra police station on Monday has confirmed the 34-year-old actor died due to hanging and it is a clear case of suicide. It ruled out any foul play. Eleven days after his death, though, police are still clueless about what prompted Rajput to end his life.

Rajput was found dead by a house help in a bedroom of his sixth-floor flat at Mount Blanc Apartment in Bandra (West) on June 14. Bandra police said Rajput’s viscera and vital organs were preserved for certain chemical tests at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina.

Meanwhile, the investigation team plans to seek details from Twitter over suspicions that his tweets over the past six months might have been deleted. “We will dispatch a letter to Twitter to get information on whether Rajput was active on his handle @itsSSR in the past six months because there is something wrong. It is observed that his last tweet was on December 27, 2019, and since then there are no more posts,” a senior police official told TOI on the condition of anonymity.

DCP (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe confirmed the investigation team received the final post-mortem report on June 22, and it confirmed suicide. Trimukhe, though, declined to elaborate on the report.

Meanwhile, Bandra police have recorded statements of at least 23 people, including Rajput’s actor-friend Rhea Chakraborty, his family and managerial staff.

Police are also going through his multi-film contract papers obtained from a production house.

Chakraborty, in her statement, reportedly said she was living with Rajput in his flat for a while and she left on June 8, after which his sister was to join him. She said Rajput was being treated for clinical depression.

A person who handles post-mortem reports told TOI: “The FSL performed an autopsy of vital organs and viscera and confirmed the death was caused due to hanging.”

Police said they have asked the directorate of forensic science services to speed up the chemical analysis at the Kalina lab. “The PM report suggested no struggle marks or external injuries were found on the actor’s body. The cause of death is mentioned as asphyxia due to hanging. His nails were found clean too,” said the police.

V Narayan & Sumitra Deb Roy | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 16, 2020)

Mumbai: The final rites of 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead in his Bandra flat, were performed on Monday.

Police have recorded statements of six people so far, including one of his sisters who lives in Goregaon, his actor friends Mahesh Shetty and Rhea Chakraborty, his managers and cook. It was the cook who called the police control room after he and two of Rajput’s managers found him dead on breaking the locked door to his room with the help of a locksmith.

DCP (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe said Bandra police have got the provisional postmortem report. “A team of three doctors (at R N Cooper Hospital) conducted Rajput’s autopsy and the provisional cause of death is asphyxia due to hanging,” he said. No suicide note was found.

Home minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted: “While the post mortem report says actor @itsSSR committed suicide by hanging himself, there are media reports that he allegedly suffered from clinical depression because of professional rivalry. @MumbaiPolice will probe this angle too.”

A Bandra police officer told TOI they do not suspect a financial trigger. “Rajput’s sister too said he had no financial problems but he was under treatment for depression for the past six months. His friend Shetty said the actor had called him early on Sunday but he did not pick up. He said if he had, the situation might have been different.”

One of the doctors who did his post-mortem said, “It’s a clear case of suicide by hanging. There were no other injuries.” The post-mortem was carried out by Dr Sachin Sonawane, Dr Shivkumar Kolle and Dr Sandeep Ingale.

A four-member team of experts from Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory visited his flat. “The team gathered evidence to conclude whether it was a homicidal or suicidal hanging. It’s part of the standard protocol,” said an officer. His phone has been sent to the lab for call details too.

Doctors have sent his viscera to JJ Hospital for histopathology and another set of samples to Kalina lab for routine chemical analysis for intoxication and poisoning. Reports are expected in a week. Cops are also probing who leaked photos of Rajput’s body.