A special court designated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on Tuesday further extended the judicial custody of actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the Narcotics Control Bureau’s case against them.
The court also extended the judicial custody up to the same period of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda, his personal staffer Dipesh Sawant as well as Dharma Productions ex-employee Kshitij Prasad.
The court likewise extended judicial custody of Showik’s friend Suryadeep Malhotra, Zaid Vilatra, Rahil Vishram and Anuj Keshwani too. All the accused will, as a result, continue to remain in the prisons where they are lodged.
Additional Sessions Judge GB Gurao had rejected the bail pleas of Rhea, Showik, Zaid Vilatra, Abdel Basit Parihar, Samuel Miranda and Dipesh Sawant on the 11 September. All of them had challenged the order in the Bombay High Court. Zaid, however, has recently withdrawn his plea.
Some of those who arrest took place later, such as Suryadeep, Karamjeet Singh, Ankush Arneja and Dwayne Fernandes have applied for bail before the special court. Their pleas are pending before the court.
Showik was arrested on 5 September and is lodged in Taloja jail. Rhea, arrested by the agency three days later on 8 September, is currently in Byculla jail. The Bombay High Court has reserved their bail pleas for orders.
The NCB which is investigating the drug angle in Rajput's death case and the larger drug cartel in Bollywood has till date made 20 arrests in the case.
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