Actor Rhea Chakraborty appeared before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for questioning for the second consecutive day on Monday and was questioned for eight hours as part of the agency’s probe into a drugs case linked to the investigation of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
The NCB’s probe has widened to investigate the source of drugs. “We are trying to go deeper in the network,” said a high-ranking NCB officer privy to the investigation. “Seizure (of drugs) is very important for us. We are conducting the probe in a professional manner and are not trying to damage anybody’s reputation,” said the officer.
Rhea is being questioned in the presence of her younger brother Showik Chakraborty. The agency is confronting them over ‘incriminating’ chats on a WhatsApp group, where drugs were allegedly discussed. The Chakraborty’s have denied consuming drugs in the past. The agency has not found any drugs in their possession. A total 59 grams of curated marijuana was found from two men —Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora— already arrested. Another accused Kaizan Ebrahim was held with 0.5 gram of a dark brown coloured substance purported to be the hashish that was found at his house, NCB stated.
NCB has arrested nine persons in connection with the drug case. The questioning of the arrested accused is leading NCB to reach into the drug cartel network. “We are in the process of data verification, examination and confrontation of the accused,” said the officer.
The latest arrest in the case of one Anuj Keshwani, who was found in possession of 590 grams of Hashish, 0.64 grams of LSD sheets and 304 grams of marijuana has led the agency to believe a wider syndicate is being operated. “Even 0.1 gram of LSD is commercial quantity under the laws and, hence, the seizure of LSD is being probed further. We are finding out who the suppliers are,” said the officer.
Rhea has again been called for investigation on Tuesday. The persons arrested in the case are Lakhani, Arora, Ebrahim, Abdel Basit Parihar, Zaid Vilatra, Showik, Samuel Miranda and Dipesh Sawant.
NCB sources stated that they will detail their findings before the court as they dig deep into finding the source of drugs and who were the end users. The supply chain of the contraband and if international drug cartels are involved is being investigated.
