Rhea Chakraborty, at the centre of the storm over the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, on Wednesday filed a bail plea before the sessions court, stating that she fears for her life in jail as she has been receiving rape and death threats over the past months.
Her brother Showik has also sought bail. Rhea said in her bail application that no drugs or psychotropic substances have been seized from her and the allegations of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) pertain to small quantities of drugs and are bailable offences.
Her advocate Satish Maneshinde contended in the plea that Sec 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act which pertains to financing of illicit traffic of drugs and harbouring of offenders has been applied on her and her brother Showik, even as the section was not applied to their co-accused who had faced similar allegations. Some of her co-accused, even those from whom a total of 59 grams of drugs were seized, have been granted bail.
Further, the actor’s plea said that as per allegations, she had only co-ordinated to procure drugs for her late boyfriend and sometimes made payments for them and that based on these allegations, the agency has termed her “an active member of the drug syndicate”.
It pointed out that the case is silent on the amount of financing or quantum of drugs procured. It also said that there is no allegation of her procuring drugs outside the duration of her relationship with the late actor and that the NCB has not shown any connection between her and drug peddlers or suppliers.
Rhea was coerced into making self-incriminatory confessions which she has already retracted, it said.
It also pointed out that she had been interrogated at a stretch of eight hours by multiple male officers and lady officers were not present as mandated by law.
A magistrate court where Rhea Chakraborty had been produced through video-conferencing on Tuesday after her arrest, had rejected her bail plea and remanded her in judicial custody to Byculla jail.
The NCB opposed the bail plea of Showik. Their co-accused Anuj Keswani, from whom LSD was seized, was sent to the NCB's custody for custodial interrogation till 14 September. Zaid Vilatra’s and Abdel Basit Parihar’s bail pleas were partly heard and will continue to be heard on Thursday. The court will also hear Rhea’s and Showik’s bail pleas on Thursday.
