Statements of Deepika, Shraddha part of NCB charge sheet in Rajput case

PTI, Mar 5, 2021, 7:03 PM IST

Mumbai: Statements of Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan are part of the charge sheet filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs case linked to Sushant Singh Rajput”s death, an official said on Friday.

Padukone, Kapoor and Khan, all prominent Bollywood stars, were among those who had been questioned after the NCB began to probe the case.

Rajput”s girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother have been named among the accused, the official said.

After an over six-month-long investigation, the Central agency on Friday filed a charge sheet running into around 70,000 pages in a special court here. The bulk of it — nearly 50,000 pages — is in digital format.

It includes statements over 200 witnesses, the official said.

The charge sheet names Anuj Keshwani and Azam Jumman as main accused.

Rhea Chakraborty has been charged with procurement of drugs, facilitation and financing.

The evidence against her brohter Showik includes voice notes, WhatsApp chats, forensic lab reports, deleted messages which were retrieved by the NCB, the official said.

Besides WhatsApp, the accused were using other messaging apps including Telegram too, the official said.

The NCB has invoked various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in the case.

Zaid Vilatra, Rahil Vishram, Kshitij Prasad, Agisilaos Demetriades, Rigel Mahakal, Rishikesh Pawar, Jagtapsingh Anand, Karanjeet Anand and Rahila Furniturewala are among other accused named in the case.

Apart from charges related to supply and procurement of drugs, some of them are accused of financing illicit trafficking and harboring offenders.

The NCB began probing the alleged use of drugs in some quarters in Bollywood after the death of Rajput (34) in June last year. The central agency started its probe on the basis of some WhatsApp chats having reference to drugs.