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.
"Mahabharat" is set to be made from Draupadi's point of view, and actress Deepika Padukone will play the central character. She has teamed up with producer Madhu Mantena and will be producing the film too.
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has come to Delhi with his youngest son AbRam, and says he plans to take him around to show how Diwali is celebrated in the national capital.
"Post the birth of my daughter, Mehr, we have learned how to manage time. She has brought discipline in our (Angad and I) lives and my time management skills have become much better," Neha said.
Author, filmmaker and cancer survivor Tahira Kashyap Khurrana, the wife of actor Ayushmann Khurrana, says that as a budding filmmaker she does not feel the pressure of achieving something to match the success level of her National Award-winning husband.
