Travesty Of Justice, Says Her Lawyer
Ahmed Ali (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 9, 2020)

Mumbai: After three days of questioning, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty on charges of allegedly arranging and financing consumption of marijuana by her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput with the help of her brother Showik, Sushant’s house manager Samuel Miranda and cook Deepesh Sawant.

NCB, in its remand application, described her as part of an “active drug syndicate” connected with drug suppliers. The agency, however, did not ask for her custody and instead requested that she be sent to judicial custody. A magistrate, through video conferencing, remanded Rhea in judicial custody till September 22.

Sources said her lawyer Satish Maneshinde is likely to move sessions court for bail on Wednesday.

The actress has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Pyschotropic Substances Act under section 8 (c) which deals with possession and purchase, 20B (II) for possession, purchase and transporting, 27 for financing illicit traffic, 28 for attempt to commit offences, and 29 for abetment and criminal conspiracy.

The offences attract a minimum punishment of 10 years imprisonment and maximum of 20 years and a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh.
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Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), while admitting that cases of possession and procurement such as the one involving Rhea Chakraborty was not part of their “mandate”, said they had managed to piece it together to their satisfaction.

“We are satisfied with her three days of interrogations and we don’t need her custody any more. Normally we look at international and inter-state drug trafficking and usually this is not our mandate… we look for big fish. But now we are getting information and we will not spare anyone whose names are figuring in the investigations. We will bring the case to its logical conclusion,” said deputy DG, NCB Mutha Ashok Jain. NCB’s mandate is to bust drug syndicates and unearth factories that are into manufacturing contraband.

The remand application says, “These deliveries (of marijuana) used to be received by aides of Sushant and every delivery and payment was in conscious knowledge of Rhea Chakraborty and even sometimes payment and choice of drugs was confirmed from Rhea.” Rhea is the 10th person to be arrested in the NCB’s probe into drug use involving Sushant Singh Rajput.

The remand application said Rhea’s brother Showik has revealed that he facilitated delivery of drugs through peddlers Basit Parihar, Kaizan Ibrahim and Zaid Vilatra. Showik is accused of organising weed (marijuana) for Sushant between September 2019 and March 2020. There are chat messages between Rhea, Showik and Samuel involving discussions of procurement of drugs. However, the only recoveries of drugs have so far been from the alleged peddlers.

In her media interviews, Rhea had said that Sushant was a substance abuser and her attempts to wean him off did not yield results. The Enforcement Directorate while probing a money laundering angle had found chat messages pertaining to drugs on Rhea’s mobile, which triggered this investigation. The ED passed on the details to the NCB.

NCB officials said she was placed under arrest at around 3.30 pm. Rhea appeared before the NCB at 9.30 am on Tuesday and carried a bag containing a pair of clothes and a water bottle with her.

Terming her arrest a “travesty of justice”, her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said, “Three central agencies hounding a single woman just because she was in love with a drug addict who was suffering from mental health issues for several years and was under the care of five leading psychiatrists in Mumbai, who ended up committing suicide due to consumption of illegally administered medicines and used drugs...” After her arrest, NCB officials took her to Sion hospital for a medical test.

On Wednesday, the seven other accused in the case will be produced before the court as their custody period ends.
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While the original drug case in Sushant's death was filed by NCB on August 26, all its actions - including Rhea's impending arrest - are happening in a different ganja case filed on August 28
Faizan Khan (MID-DAY; September 7, 2020)

Days after registering an FIR (15/2020) against actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family based on chats related to a possible drug angle in the case, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is yet to make any headway in the matter. However, it has been working on a different FIR (16/2020) registered last month and has arrested eight people in the case. After questioning Rhea in the same matter for six hours on Sunday, the NCB got remand of the eight accused by connecting the case to Sushant's alleged suicide.

Before leaving for the NCB office, Rhea issued a statement through her lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, which says, "Rhea is ready for arrest as this is a witch-hunt and if loving someone is a crime, then she will face the consequences of it. She has not approached any court for anticipatory bail in all the cases foisted on her by the Bihar police, CBI, ED and NCB."

'Doing Everything Legally'
After her questioning, DDG Ashok Jain briefed the press and said that Rhea had been summoned again on Monday for further questioning. However, he didn't answer the questions related to her possible arrest. After the briefing, mid-day asked him about the progress of the main FIR 15/2020 registered in connection with Sushant's death in which Rhea, her family and others have been named, to which he said, "We are doing everything legally and also consulting our legal team on FIR number 15/2020." However, he refused to speak about the progress of the case and whether Rhea was questioned related to it or the other FIR (16/2020).

On August 26, the NCB had registered an offence (15/2020) against Rhea, her family and others under section 20(b)/22/27/28/29 of NDPS Act. The FIR was registered based on Rhea's WhatsApp chats shared by the Enforcement Directorate. The NCB had mentioned that no seizure happened in the case as it was registered based on the chats.

On August 28, the NCB Mumbai and Delhi teams arrested drug peddlers Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora after they were found in possession of 46 gms of Marijuana and 59 gms of Ganja. An FIR (16/2020) was registered against them under NDPS.

Following this the agency arrested another peddler Zaid Vilatra, based on whose statement, they nabbed Abdel Basit Parihar and found that he used to sell Marijuana, Ganja and Bud. During his interrogation the agency got to know that he used to purchase drugs from Vilatra and another peddler Kaizan Ebrahim on the instructions of Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik Chakraborty, who directed them to be delivered to Sameul Miranda. And based on the statements of Basit and Kaizan, Miranda and Showik were arrested and sent to NCB custody till September 9.

On Saturday, the NCB also arrested Sushant's house help Deepesh Sawant based on a voluntary statement of Showik, who said that Parihar provided drugs to Sawant. Sawant was produced before the holiday court on Sunday and sent to NCB custody till September 9. However, all these arrests were made in FIR number 16/2020. While producing the accused before the court, NCB said, "We are investigating the drug angle in the SSR case. It's highly substantive and needs to be investigated thoroughly to uproot the drug citadel in Mumbai and especially in Bollywood."

'Not Related To SSR Case'
Meanwhile, Sawant's lawyer Rajendra Rathod told mid-day, "My client was arrested for conspiracy under NDPS Act in a different case, which is not related to the SSR matter. The agency is claiming that they are investigating a larger high-profile drug syndicate, which is related to Bollywood and they mentioned Rajput's name in court. I have also filed an application before the court that my client was kept in illegal custody from September 4 and was produced before the court only on Sunday. The court has sought a response from the agency."

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.