ED questions Sushant’s sister in money laundering case

PTI, Aug 21, 2020, 3:57 PM IST

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, August 21 questioned and recorded the statement of Priyanka Singh, elder sister of Sushant Singh Rajput, in connection with a money laundering case probe linked to the actor’s death, officials said.

“The statement of Priyanka Singh was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Delhi,” they said.

It is understood that the ED wants to obtain information related to Rajput”s finances, personal and professional deals that Priyanka Singh was privy to, in order to take its investigation forward into the allegations of money laundering and alleged financial irregularities perpetrated on the actor.

The 34-year-old actor had starred in many hit Hindi movies including the biopic of former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni.

The ED had earlier recorded the statements of Rajput”s father K K Singh and another sister Meetu Singh. The actor found hanging at his sea-facing flat in Mumbai”s Bandra area on June 14, has four sisters.

On Thursday, the agency had also recorded the statement of filmmaker Rumi Jaffery in Mumbai.

The director, according to sources, was questioned with regard to his reported plans of directing a movie with the late actor and the finances involved in this upcoming project.

The ED case stems from an FIR filed by Rajput”s father on July 25 with the Bihar Police in Patna against his son’s friend and live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty, her parents — father Indrajit Chakraborty and mother Sandhya Chakraborty brother Showik, the actor’s manager Samuel Miranda and Shruti Modi and unknown persons accusing them of cheating and abetting his son’s suicide.

The ED has to know quizzed Rhea Chakraborty, Showik, Indrajit Chakraborty, Rajput”s business managers, chartered accountants, house workers, accountant Rajat Mewati, his friend and flatmate Siddharth Pithani in the case and their statements have been recorded under the PMLA.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had re-registered the Bihar Police”s FIR as a fresh case and named the same people as accused.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its nod to the CBI to go ahead and launch its investigation in the case.

The father has also alleged financial irregularities in his complaint to the police.

In the complaint, Singh alleged that an amount of Rs 15 crore was siphoned off from Rajput”s bank account in one year to accounts of persons not known or connected to the late actor.