Central agency will reconstruct incident, examine accused
Abhishek Sharan (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 21, 2020)

A CBI team from Delhi, along with experts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of India (CFSL), reached Mumbai on Thursday evening to start its probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The team is likely to undertake a reconstruction of the incident at the late actor’s Bandra flat, where his body was found hanging on June 14.

Sources said the agency will examine case records and evidence, including autopsy report, case diary, panchnama and statements of 56 people recorded earlier by the Mumbai police. The agency may meet Mumbai police’s team conducting the accidental death probe.

The agency’s team is also likely to question the accused in the case, including Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, and witnesses.

The agency will question the four people who had found Rajput’s body about what had transpired in the flat on the day of the incident and hours/ days before that to understand the circumstances related to the suicide and for its reconstruction, sources said.

The CFSL team will accompany the CBI team to Rajput’s Bandra flat to trace/gather forensic evidence, the sources said. The CBI team is led by Superintendent of Police (SP), Nupur Prasad, and around a dozen CFSL officials.


ED records Rumy Jafry’s statement
The ED on Thursday recorded the statement of filmmaker Rumy Jafry in connection with its money laundering probe into the case. The director’s statement was recorded in relation to his reported plans of directing a movie with the late actor and the finances involved in this upcoming project.
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Officers of the central agency will do a detailed enactment of Sushant Singh Rajput's last moments, with all the witnesses present in the house
Faizan Khan (MID-DAY; August 21, 2020)

A day after the Supreme Court paved the way for a CBI probe in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, the 16-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the central agency landed in Mumbai to take over the probe. Sources said CBI officers will visit Mont Blanc building where the actor allegedly committed suicide and recreate the incident in the presence of witnesses.

Deputy Inspector General of CBI's Anti-Corruption Wing in Mumbai, Suvez Haque has been appointed as the nodal officer to coordinate with the city police. Sources said that he has already contacted the Mumbai police for all the case files and documents, which will be submitted to the SIT. The SIT will be led by senior IPS officer Manoj Shashidhar and will include DIG Gagandeep Gambhir, SP Nupur Prasad and DSP Anil Kumar Yadav. Meanwhile, sources said that the state government was unlikely to challenge the SC verdict.

Divided Into Three Teams
The sources further said that the CBI would start investigating the matter from the beginning and in order to recreate the incident, they will use a dummy of Sushant's height and weight. The witnesses would be questioned individually and if any contradictory statements come to the fore, they would be interrogated face to face.

The SIT has been divided into three teams to speed up the investigation. According to sources, one team will record the statements of witnesses and question actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family, the second team will look into the forensic evidence and meet the doctors who have conducted the post mortem, and the third team will look into the investigation carried out by the Mumbai police. The CBI will also try to ascertain whether the professional rivalry angle is relevant.

"Our investigation will not be limited to the abetment of suicide case. We will probe all possible angles. We cannot comment more as we are yet to see the case file," a CBI officer said.

So far the city police have recorded the statements of 56 people and haven't found any foul play.

'Thoroughly Investigated'
"The matter has been thoroughly investigated. Even the doctors' statements have been recorded. The postmortem report confirmed death due to asphyxia. The toxicology report and other forensic reports also ruled out foul play," said a Mumbai police officer. The angles from which the city police investigated the matter include Sushant's depression, his recent relationships, professional rivalry, financial distress and negative media reports.

The investigation team from Bandra police recorded the statements of the actor's family members, his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and others who were close to him. As far as the professional rivalry angle is concerned, the cops recorded the statements of Aditya Chopra, Mahesh Bhatt, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and others. They also recorded the statements of several journalists who have written negative articles on the actor. "Our investigation is still on and if we reach any logical conclusion, we will act accordingly. If we find any evidence regarding crime committed, then we will register an FIR and transfer the case to CBI as per the apex court's order," the officer added.

A month since his demise, Sushant Singh Rajput's friend appeals to Aaditya Thackeray, BMC chief to rename Bandra road where he stayed after him
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; July 14, 2020)

Today marks exactly a month since Sushant Singh Rajput passed away. After a road was renamed in his honour in hometown Purnea in Bihar last week, Nilotpal Mrinal, a Mumbai-based family friend, has appealed that the lane where he stayed — near Joggers' Park in Bandra — be rechristened in memory of the late actor.

While Rajput's death triggered an outpouring of grief from industry folk as well as fans, it also reignited a dialogue on the rampant nepotism and power play in Bollywood. "His loss is still being mourned, and it is only befitting that the road where he resided be named after him," says Mrinal. "I first approached Aaditya Thackeray and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. They directed me to the officials of the H (West) municipal ward under whose jurisdiction the area falls. I have written to the local civic authorities."

Considering Rajput realised his long-cherished dream of becoming a movie star in Mumbai, Mrinal — who runs the NGO, Nanhi Goonj Vikas Foundation — hopes the city will keep the actor's memory alive. "I have also suggested that if not a road, a chowk or a garden in the area be named after Sushant. Currently, the municipal authorities are busy battling the pandemic. They have assured me they will look into it at the earliest," he says.


Rajput's house near Joggers' Park in Bandra. Pic/Shadab Khan

Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 30, 2020)

As discussions around nepotism in Bollywood, fuelled by actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, spark an outrage, a video in which actor Swara Bhasker is seen talking to filmmaker Karan Johar on nepotism has gone viral. Commenting on it, she says, “Right now, things are being said and people being blamed, but Karan being vilified is unnecessary. I don’t think Karan, Alia (Bhatt, actor), Sonam (K Ahuja, actor) had anything to do with what happened with Sushant. It’s not a fair accusation.”

“In the video, one can see that Karan is accepting that he might have chosen people who were right in front of him, and things should change. It’s disgusting that Sushant’s death is being used for ulterior motives by some people. We must give Sushant dignity in his death and celebrate his life,” Bhasker, 32, adds.

Stressing the need to make mental health the focus of discussions, she states, “One shouldn’t trivialise it by saying people get depressed because they weren’t invited for a party or because someone gave a stupid answer about them on a chat show. If that is your understanding, then you don’t know what depression is.”

While she has made her mark with her acting, Bhasker has also been vocal about many political issues. Ask her if her political ideologies affect her career and vice versa, and she says, “If you are a woman, and a woman in a public sphere, you will be trolled for some or the other reason... I am grateful that people respect my voice and that I have an identity and credibility as a person. After 10 years in the industry, I could have done more, yet I feel proud of my body of work.”

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; June 29, 2020)

Two weeks after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide continues to be in the news, his friend and Bollywood producer Sandip Ssingh, talks to Bombay Times about that fateful day, how he is coping with it and also about all the media speculation and theories around the actor’s death. Excerpts…

The last two weeks must have been heart-breaking for you. Could you tell us how you are coping with the loss of your friend?
When I got the news, I did not believe it. I was sitting alone and thinking if it had really happened. Mahesh Shetty (Sushant’s close friend) and I spoke; he said he’s coming to pick me up. Throughout the journey from my house to Sushant’s house in Bandra, we were inundated with calls. It was not sinking in... we were sitting in silence and in shock throughout the journey. When we reached there, we were still in shock and disbelief, but we knew a lot of formalities had to be completed and his sister Mitu was the only one from his family there.

While you have been with the family in the last two weeks, have you been keeping up with all that’s being reported in the media and what’s happening on social media?
When I read the stories, I could understand the emotions behind them. People are saying he suffered because of nepotism, some are pointing fingers at others saying that seven films were taken away from him. People are saying he was depressed, he was not happy in his relationship... kya kya likha logon ne...Let the enquiries get over before writing anything.

Several things were spoken about right after Sushant’s demise — from mental health issues to his talent not being appreciated. Was there anything that he told you in the last one year?
First and foremost, we have to understand he was not an expressive person in his real life. When one goes through things, they don’t express themselves easily. I think we as friends should have probably understood what he was feeling and going through. Aaj lagta hai thoda sa aur effort lena tha, thoda aur haq jata dete uspe toh...

In your social media post after his death, you spoke about Sushant’s relationship with Ankita Lokhande. How is she now?
Ankita had spent the maximum time with him in the last 10 years or so. When they were together, she took care of him like no one else ever did. She was always in touch with the family and they all loved her.

Most people were not aware of your equation with Sushant dating back several years. When they saw you being so involved in everything that happened since the time of his death, many questioned your presence at the forefront.
Kya main wait karta kisike bulave ka? Ya main yeh dekhta ki Sushant ki family se uski ek behen ke alava yahan aur koi nahi hai? People gossip; yehi saari cheezein thi jo shayad usko bhi bother karti thi. I am also going through my own grief because of his death.

There are a lot of theories and so much talk about what could have led to his death...
Suspense kuch nahi hai. Media ko kya jaldi hai? His family and friends are waiting for the investigation to get over. We will get our answers. We need to hang on. We have to understand everyone’s emotions. Maine family ka saath diya to mere pe ungli uthi. Kyun bhai? Investigations pe curiosity and bachpana kyun? It’s very stupid of us. His death is a sensitive matter. Everything has to be done carefully.

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

Mumbai: The police probing the death of Sushant Singh Rajput (34) on Thursday sought details from the leading production house Yash Raj Films on its three-movie contract with the actor. Sources said one of the films was shelved.

The production house has a talent management agency which had signed Rajput for three films. “The contract will help us to know what went wrong between the production house and Rajput. If we find anything suspicious, they will be called for questioning,” said an officer.

The police on Thursday recorded the statements of Rajput’s two managers and his actor-friend, Rhea Chakraborty.

One of the managers has reportedly told the police that Rajput had been working on two projects—Genius and Dropout. He wanted to send children for a workshop to Nasa and was to start a gaming company, Vivid Rage Realistics, based on virtual reality. “He was also working on setting up an organisation to take up social causes,” an officer said. Rajput had rented a farmhouse near Lonavla, where he would stay most of the time with his team members.

The other manager, in his statement, reportedly said he has been working with the actor since 2018. He claimed to have overheard a conversation among Rajput’s staff members that the actor stopped taking medicines as he felt better.

Rajput was financially sound which reflected in his bank statement. Three days before he ended his life, Rajput had paid the Rs 4 lakh rent for his flat in Mount Blanc building in Bandra (W) as well as Rs 6 lakh towards staff salary. The statement recording of Chakraborty continued for over 11 hours. Till date, police have recorded the statements of 13 people.

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.

Sushant Singh Rajput, one of Bollywood’s most talented young actors, died by suicide on Sunday; The 34-year-old actor was found dead in his Bandra duplex; the Crime Branch has launched a parallel probe; Sushant’s sudden death is another shock for the film industry, which is still recovering from the deaths of Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor and Basu Chatterjee
Vallabh Ozarkar and Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 15, 2020)

One of the sharpest inquisitive thoughts when a person in the limelight meets his end is what was the last thing on their mind. In the case of 34-year-old Sushant Singh Rajput it would be his last Instagram post where he put up a picture of his mother with a caption stating, ‘Blurred past evaporating from teardrops, unending dreams carving an arc of smile, and a fleeting life, negotiating between the two…’. These lines were being dissected and analysed through Sunday by a multitude of people – the talented star’s fans as well as colleagues in the film industry. It’s what happens when one is compelled to accept the unexpected. In his seven-year-old career in the movies, which he chose over engineering, Rajput rode the crest with films like Kai Po Che!, Shuddh Desi Romance, Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, M S Dhoni - The Untold Story, Kedarnath and Chhichhore. He had just about come into his element; and one looked forward to more. The actor allegedly died of suicide in his sixth floor residence in Mount Blanc on Carter Road, Bandra, which he shared with art designer Siddharth Pithani, on Sunday morning. He was found hanging in his bedroom by a member of his house staff. On June 9, Rajput’s former manager Disha Salian had allegedly jumped to her death from her Malad residence; it is speculated over financial matters. While an inquiry into Rajput’s death has been instituted, cops have found no connection between the two.

He woke up at 6.30 am on Sunday whereupon he was served a glass of pomegranate juice. Subsequently, he went into his bedroom. An hour later when one of the members of his staff knocked at his door wanting to enquire about the lunch menu -- he received no response. He continued the act intermittently but on receiving no response the house staff and his flat mate summoned Rajput’s sister. On her arrival, together they broke into his room to find him hanging from the ceiling with a bedsheet.

He was taken to Cooper Hospital where he was declared dead. There was no suicide note. The post-mortem report is awaited.

The Unit IX of crime branch will scrutinise Rajput’s mobile phone record. His staff – two cooks and a housekeeper who stayed in the flat – are being interrogated, along with neighbours and relatives. Rajput shifted to this rental accommodation six months ago and was supposed stay on till 2022. He was paying Rs 4.5 lakh in the rent.

A decade ago when Rajput’s then roommate and friend TV actor Manav Verma turned to him during a low patch, the actor had advised, “If you ever feel low in life, go and sit on the rocks at Versova Beach and talk to the waves gushing in and just stare into the sea.” The two began their careers with Ekjute theatre group before Rajput made his TV debut in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. The two would often go down to Andheri station in the middle of the night to share a smoke and sip on tea, when things were not so smooth. For someone “as motivated and passionate as Sushant”, Verma is yet to come to terms with the fact that his friend could resort to such extreme measures.

Fellow actor Amir Ali says Rajput’s “main aim in life was to be happy”. “He would say, ‘My career will sort itself out. If things don’t work out, I can always return to television’. And when I’d nudge him to buy a house, he’d brush me off saying, he would rather have cars and bikes instead. He had his own fundas and was happy with it,” remembers Ali.

However, recently, when Rajput’s fitness trainer of four years, Samee Ahmed, spoke to the late actor on June 1 when the actor had called to convey his condolences to Ahmed on his mother’s death, he “sounded moved because he looked up to my mom”. Rajput had then revealed, ‘I know how it feels when one loses one’s mother because my mother passed away when I was 16. It’s a terrible time but I am there if you need anything or just someone to talk to’.

Rajput was a star-gazer with a bucket list that went beyond Bollywood; he was interested in the mysteries of the universe and loved looking at the skies through his Meade 14” LX600 telescope when not working on a movie set. Last year, the actor had shared his bucket list of 50 dreams with his fans on Twitter, where among other things, he talked about visiting faraway places, painting aurora lights, writing a book and getting a selfie with his favourite star Robert Downey Jr.

A Week After His Ex-Manager Died In Fall From Bldg; Found Hanging In His Bandra Apartment
V Narayan & Nitasha Natu | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 15, 2020)

Mumbai: Hindi film industry star Sushant Singh Rajput (34), whose boyish charm and emotional range stood out in films that blended realism with the demands of commercial cinema, was found dead on Sunday in his duplex apartment at Bandra in Mumbai.

His body was found around 1.30pm after his domestic help, who tried to wake him up for lunch, found the bedroom door locked and called in a locksmith to open it. Sushant’s stylist and manager were in the flat when the room was opened. Police said he was found hanging.

A police team probing the case said the actor, best known for his convincing performances in Kai Po Che and an M S Dhoni biopic, was under treatment for depression and was on medication. Days ago, one of his former managers, Disha Salian, had allegedly ended her life.

Sushant had an unlikely background for a mainstream Bollywood star. The son of a retired Bihar government employee and a winner at the National Physics Olympiad, he had enrolled for a mechanical engineering degree at Delhi College of Engineering before he decided to follow his heart.

Sushant Singh Rajput trained under Shiamak Davar in dance and Barry John in acting before breaking into the big league with Kai Po Che, a film based on a Chetan Bhagat novel on the Gujarat riots. News of his death led to an outpouring of grief from fellow artistes on social media.

Sushant's last conversation may have been with an elder sister, said police on Sunday. “Rajput’s sister told us he called her on Sunday morning. We have to record her statement to know the exact conversation they had. He also spoke with a friend, a model-actor named Mahesh Krishna Shetty,” said an officer at Bandra police station. He was last seen when he came out of his bedroom to pick up a glass of juice around 9 am. He had spent the previous night in the company of a few associates.

Rajput’s family members have told the police that he was under treatment for depression. He is survived by his father and four sisters. His mother had died in 2002 when he was 16. One of his final posts on social media on June 3 was a tribute to his mother. It said, “Blurred past evaporating from teardrops.. Unending dreams carving an arc of smile.. And a fleeting life, negotiating between the two...#Maa”.

Sushant was last seen in the movie, Chhichhore, that released in September 2019.

For a while during the lockdown, he was living with the family of his friend Rhea Chakraborty. He later moved back into his own house, a rented duplex flat at Bandra’s Mont Blanc apartment on Carter Road.

Mumbai police spokesperson DCP Pranaya Ashok said the death appeared to be a suicide but they had not found a suicide note. The police have recorded the statement of his friend Rhea, model-actor Mahesh Krishna Shetty, his house help and others who were present in the flat. Police are also scanning the actor’s mobile for clues.

Rajput’s body has been kept at Cooper hospital. His father will reach Mumbai from Patna on Monday.

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; August 14, 2017)

When Sushant Singh Rajput takes up a film, he does a lot of research to understand the nuances of his character. He lives and breathes the part till he’s done with the film. It is rare for him to work on two films simultaneously. However, his space adventure film Chandamama Door Ke and his romantic saga Kedarnath, will go on floors in quick succession. The actor has started his prep and workshops for both the films together.

Two different worlds
At Sushant’s Bandra house, the actor has created two different worlds. One room has a poster of Sushant wearing a spacesuit, pasted on the door, while the other has a huge poster of the Kedarnath temple on the door. The actor keeps shuttling between the two rooms, much like he will be doing on the sets of the two films in the coming months.

My work space
Talking about creating the two work spaces, Sushant says, “This was completely my idea. There’s a team helping me out with it. These kinds of set-ups help in the complete and continuous immersion into that world, which will allow you to believe that you are that character. This happened because I have never worked on two-three characters at the same time. With newer problems, you have to come up with new solutions. It’s helping till now, so let’s see!”

Balancing act!
The shoot of Kedarnath begins on August 25. Mid-way through the filming, Sushant begins work on Chandamama..., too. “We start shooting Kedarnath this month and then we take a break when I begin Chandamama. The schedules of both films will intertwine,” reveals Sushant. The process of his prep is very different from what other actors follow.

He says, “People only talk about how much weight an actor has gained or dropped, or how much hair he’s grown or shaved for a film. That’s how they gauge a great actor (laughs), but I think those are the simplest things that an actor does. There are other more intricate things like changing the way you think.”

Teerth yatra-ready
As I step into the Kedarnath room. I notice that this room has an austere decor. There is a charpai, some old wooden furniture, and a lot of other elements of a pilgrimage which is essentially the underlying theme of the film. Sushant continues, “If I have to read a script of Chandamama, I will sit in the other room. Even if I’m not looking at the script and I’m looking around, I will still be seeing the things that I am supposed to see. Probably something will catch my attention and I will Google it. Maybe, something like the lunar module which is right there (points to the module which is stuck on the wall). Or I might just watch all the animation videos of the lunar module that I have. It’s just like being in that space and thinking about it again and again. That’s the intent.”

Space travel
The other room has been designed with a lot of pictures of space and moon — all collected from NASA — carefully positioned on the walls. Along with that, there is a huge poster of Sushant in a spacesuit and a lot of other mementos and pictures that Sushant clicked during his recent trip to NASA. He shows me an ice-cream that astronauts have in space, and books that he’s reading to understand the modules and the logistics behind how a space aircraft works. But the best element in the room has to be the Virtual Reality system that he has installed. The room has a VR box that can transcend you to space in no time. “Once you wear these VR boxes, you can actually walk on the moon,” he says.

The actor, who loves long drives, is set to close a deal on a house three-four hours away from the city
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 8, 2017)

As he waits for the delivery of a high-end telescope that he had placed an order for recently, Sushant Singh Rajput admits that they are not usually interior designer-approved. “Mine is distractingly large,” he explains, quickly adding, “It’s one of the most-advanced telescopes in the world and I’m going to be able to see Saturn’s rings through it.” He points towards a sea-facing window in his Bandra apartment, where he plans to place his new prized possession.

However, Sushant’s telescope may not remain stationary for too long. The 30-year-old actor is in the final stages of locking a deal on a new house. “It’s two-three hours away from the city and I will go to live there along with my telescope. I love driving so the plan is to stay there and drive into the city. When something needs my immediate attention, I’ll take the chopper service,” he says matter-of-factly, adding tongue-in-cheek, “I love my ‘space’ so much that I’m doing a film about it.”

The actor recently returned from an extensive prep session at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where he trained for Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s upcoming space odyssey, Chandamama Door Ke. While Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan have shot at NASA earlier for Jaan-Emann and Swades respectively, Sushant is the first Indian actor to film inside NASA’s workshops in authentic space suits.

“It’s an incomparable experience. For 20 years, I’ve lived with formulae and theories in my head. During the training sessions, I could actually feel zero gravity; I sat in a centrifuge, experienced what it’s like to tumble in space. Everything I had read about became real. I was like a kid in a candy store. At times, I forgot that I was at NASA to shoot a film,” Sushant recalls who was studying to be an engineer, adding that he was keen on doing everything over and over again, like the astronauts. “The crew had to pull me out of there because they thought I’d never leave.”

Apart from the telescope, Sushant has also become the proud owner of a 125-book stash that includes a six-volume series on theoretical physics and a dozen books on the black hole and wormhole theories. The actor spent Monday numbering and sorting them for his already overcrowded bookshelf. “It’s not for the film,” he clarifies, “I didn’t enjoy reading certain subjects for a long time but now I’m in love with cognitive science, behavioural economics, evolutionary psychology. I jump from one genre to another and have acquired a taste for these subjects over the last two years. It’s what makes viewing (Christopher Nolan’s) Interstellar so much more interesting!” Sushant signs off excitedly.

BOMBAY TIMES (June 19, 2016)

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 14, 2015)