Rhea Chakraborty linked to drugs supply racket in Bollywood, claims NCB
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Jul, 2022 04:31 PM
Mumbai, July 13 (IANS) In a startling development, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has claimed that actress Rhea Chakraborty and others were allegedly involved in a major criminal conspiracy to run a drugs racket, for Bollywood and other high society people.
In its draft charges filed before a Mumbai Special NDPS Court on Tuesday, the NCB has detailed how between March-December 2020, Rhea, her brother Showik and 34 others accused in the death case of the late Sushant Singh Rajput, were part of a plot to finance, procure, sell, transport and distribute drugs like Ganja, Charas, Cocaine, LSD to the high-profile end-users.
As part of the plot, from January-August 2020, Siddharth Pithani -- a friend of Rajput, found dead in his rented Bandra home on June 14, 2020 -- was in regular touch with the actor (Rajput) and his girlfriend Rhea, her brother Showik, domestic aides like Samuel Miranda, Dipesh Sawant and others to procure Ganja, as per the NCB draft charges.
The probe agency revealed how Pithani had used a private bank app of Rajput to source Ganja and other drugs from his bank account, describing them as 'puja samagri' (prayer materials) and accordingly abetted Rajput's extreme addiction to drugs.
The NCB contended that the actress' brother Showik Chakraborty was also allegedly linked with drug peddlers from whom he received packets on behalf of Rajput.
While Rhea was arrested in September 2020 and released on bail after almost a month in October 2020, Pithani was nabbed in May 2021 and released on bail last week, as part of the NCB's avowed probe to uproot what it termed athe drugs citadel Mumbai, especially in Bollywood'.
After hearing the arguments from both sides in the case, the Special NDPS Judge V.G. Raghuvanshi will decide on which of the 38 charges shall be framed against the 35 accused.
Bollywood actors Rajkummar Rao and Patralekhaa are now a married couple after dating each other for over a decade. The two lovebirds tied-the-knot in Chandigarh on Monday and Rajkummar said that he got married to his everything.
The Maharashtra Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have moved the Mumbai Police demanding action against Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut for her recent "real freedom" statements that have sparked a nationwide political furore.
The actress can be seen donning the Indian cricket team's jersey as she has a moment of joy with her cast members. 'Shabaash Mithu' is directed by Srijit Mukherji with story penned by Priya Aven. In addition, Taapsee has an interesting slate of upcoming films like 'Dobaaraa', 'Mishan Impossible', 'Loop Lapeta' and her debut production 'Blurr'.
Rhea had filed a plea seeking release of her gadgets like an Apple laptop and an iPhone, and access to her bank accounts, according to her lawyer Nikhil Maneshinde. The gadgets were seized while the bank accounts were frozen by the NCB after her arrest last year in connection with the probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Rajkummar Rao recently introduced the cast of the show through an innovative video saying that his reputation of a well mannered 'Rao' is under threat from the new 'Rao family' of the show. Responding to the video, Lara Dutta has expressed her gratitude towards Rajkummar for introducing the show's characters and has ensured him of securing the Rao surname's reputation.
While granting conditional bail to the trio, the Bombay High Court had stipulated, among several other things, that they must visit the NCB office every Friday between 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., deposit their passports and not leave Mumbai or India without prior permission.
