NCB joins SSR probe as Rhea drug ‘act’ emerges

 Hours after a drug angle emerged in the ongoing probe into the sensational Sushant Singh Rajput death case being looked into by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday joined the investigations into the allegations that Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty used to procure banned drugs illegally from dealers and administer them to the late actor.

On a day when the CBI sleuths continued to tie-up loose ends relating to pre and post-death scenario by questioning the late actor’s cook Neeraj Singh for the sixth consecutive day, spotlight turned on a new drug angle in the case involving Rhea’s alleged links with the drug dealers, after the ED shared Rhea’s WhatsApp chats with the CBI and the NCB alleging “procuring and usage” of drugs.

Acting swiftly on the WhatsApp inputs in which Rhea talks about drugs, the NCB swung into action and registered a case in Sushant Singh’s death.

While there is still no confirmation from the ED as to the authenticity or otherwise of some WhatsApp chats recovered purportedly by the ED from Rhea’s mobile phone that reveal that the actress might have been involved in drug dealings, the recovered WhatsApp chats, accessed by “Times Now”, among Rhea, her brother Showik Chakraborty, Sushant’s house manager Samuel Miranda and house staff Dipesh Sawant have thrown sufficient hints about her involvement in the procurement and use of drugs.

In the messages accessed by the television channel, Rhea talks about drugs. In a chat between Rhea and Gaurav Arya who is allegedly a drug dealer, Rhea writes: “In case we speak about hard drugs, I haven’t been doing too much. Tried MDMA once”.

One message sent to her by one Jaya Saha on November 25 last year says, “Use 4 drops in coffee, tea or water and let him sip it. Give it 30-40 minutes for it to kick in.”

Then, there emerges a message in a chat between Rhea and Jaya Saha: “I have asked him to coordinate with Shruti (Modi) & reach it up”. In yet another message, Rhea writes to Jaya Saha “Thank you so much”. Reply from Jaya: “No problem bro, hope it helps”.

In the first chat message, Miranda writes to Rhea, “Hi Rhea, the stuff is almost over”. The next message, in which Jaya Saha tells Rhea on November 25 last year, “Use 4 drops in coffee, tea or water and let him sip it. Give it 30-40 minutes for it to kick in”, indirectly hints that she was mixing the drug in coffee, tea or water and giving it to Sushant.

Reacting swiftly to the alleged revelations made by way of “recovered” WhatsApp messages, Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said: “Rhea has never consumed drugs in her life ever. She is ready for a blood test”.

On his part, Sushant’s family lawyer Vikas Singh said: “In our FIR, we have mentioned that he used to be over-drugged. We were under the impression that this was some drug administered by a doctor, a psychiatrist, but this revelation is absolutely explosive. Probably, he was being literally drugged, meaning he was given these hardcore drugs which are given to someone to sort of control his mind”.

“It is quite obvious that what was done to Sushant was definitely highly illegal and highly criminal. These drugs were being used to either control him, calm him down or make him docile. That is what the servants also say, that he used to be sleeping on the ground (sixth) floor of his duplex flat and Rhea used to be having a party on the seventh floor,” Singh said.

Reacting to WhatsApp chat revelations, Sushant’s sister Shweta Singh Kirti took to twitter and urged the CBI to act immediately against Rhea. “This is a CRIMINAL OFFENSE!! An immediate action should be taken by CBI on this. #RheaDrugsChat’,” she wrote.

In a related development, the CBI sleuths on Wednesday once again grilled the late actor’s cook Neeraj and the watchman of Sushant’s building Mont Blanc, at the DRDO guest house at Santa Cruz’s locality where the investigation team members are staying. Wednesday was the seventh consecutive day when Neeraj was questioned.

On Tuesday, the CBI team had questioned Neeraj, along with the actor’s other cook Keshav and his flatmate-friend Siddharth Pithani. The investigators had also grilled the late actor’s CA Sandeep Sridhar and his former accountant Rajat Mewati.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Ram Kadam on Wednesday wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, demanding a debate on the allegedly rampant use of drugs by Bollywood personalities on the floor of the State Assembly, in the forthcoming session of the Maharashtra Legislature.

In a letter to the chief minister, Kadam also demanded a thorough probe into the alleged ‘Bollywood-drug nexus’ prevailing in the film industry coupled with the narcotics mafia angle coming to the fore in the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput case.

Among other things, Kadam said that the youth of the entire State considered Bollywood figures as icons and look up to them for inspiration, and there is a long-lasting effect of the news which they watch on television or read on social media.

“This is extremely serious and no other actor or political leaders who are basically icons for youth, should indulge in drug intake. Such political leaders and actors who consume drugs should quit public life,” Kadam wrote.