Mumbai police was warned about threat to Sushant’s life in February

PTI, Aug 3, 2020, 9:22 PM IST

Patna: In a startling claim, Sushant Singh Rajput’s father said on Monday that Mumbai police were warned about the threat to the actor’s life way back in February but it failed to take note of it and also did not act upon complaints against named persons a day after his death in June.

Issuing a video statement, Krishna Kishore Singh recounted the sequence of events that led to his lodging a complaint with Patna police after which it is on the lookout for the accused currently on the run.

I had told the Mumbai police in February that my son Sushant faced a threat to his life but it did nothing. When my son died on June 14, I requested them to take action against named persons. But nothing came of it even after 40 days. Left with no other option, I lodged a case at a police station here in Patna, Singh said.

Patna police swung into action immediately, Singh remarked appreciatively and thanked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and state minister Sanjay Jha who came forward to “stand for the truth.

Singh had, in his complaint on which an FIR was lodged on July 25, accused actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family members of abetting his son’s suicide, besides defrauding him of his money and subjecting him to blackmail.

His decision to go public on the matter for the first time comes in the backdrop of alleged non-cooperation of Mumbai police with its Patna counterpart.

Meanwhile, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said that a formal protest was being lodged with the municipal authorities in Mumbai who on Sunday forcibly quarantined the IPS officer heading the Special Investigating Team, hours after he arrived in the metropolis.

Quarantining of Vinay Tiwari, the SP City (East), was not required, going by the Maharashtra governments own guidelines. The IG, Patna Zone, will be dashing off a protest letter to the Chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Pandey told reporters here.

The officer was on an official tour. He had visited Mumbai after writing a letter to DCP, Bandra, and having a telephonic talk. He had not visited the city furtively. He had applied for accommodation at the IPS mess there which was not granted, though we do not wish to make it a bone of contention, the DGP said.

Nonetheless, Pandey asserted that Tiwari could have been granted, in accordance with the Maharashtra governments own guidelines for containing the spread of COVID 19, exemption from quarantine.

The IGP will be writing the letter quoting the relevant provision.

Pandey said what happened was not appropriate and this view was also expressed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

However, when asked whether he considered an insult the quarantine stamp on Tiwari’s hand, a video of which he had posted on his twitter handle late Sunday night, Pandey said, this is not something about which one should become emotional. The stamp is a standard procedure for those being quarantined.

Asked about the contention of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh that Bihar police ought to have lodged a zero FIR since it did not have the jurisdiction to investigate the case, Pandey refused to comment, saying the matter was sub-judice and all should wait for the Supreme Court order.

A petition filed by Chakraborty, challenging the jurisdiction of Bihar police to probe the case and seeking its transfer to Mumbai, is scheduled for hearing on August 5.

The Bihar government has decided to oppose her plea and roped in former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi to appear on its behalf.