THE DUBIOUS HIGHS OF TINSELTOWN

Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has opened a Pandora’s box for Bollywood. The NCB is likely to launch a crackdown on the industry’s drug nexus soon

- Kiran D. Tare and Suhani Singh

Arrests have finally been made in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput’s death—a case that has both consumed and divided the nation. It has been three months since the actor was found dead in his room on June 14. Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty was arrested on September 8, but not for the alleged abetment to suicide or money laundering. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested the actress for the procurement of drugs and managing transactions related to it. However, the actress has denied using the drugs herself, and the NCB found none in her possession. In her statement to the NCB and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Rhea reportedly admitted that she administered drugs to Sushant but on his insistence and said the actor ignored all her attempts to dissuade him. “Whatever I did was for Sushant only,” a weeping Rhea told the NCB officers while recording her statement. In an application for bail, Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde has claimed she was coerced into making self-incriminatory confessions. “Multiple male officers of the NCB interrogated her. Not a single lady officer interrogated her.”

Apart from Rhea, her brother Showik, Sushant’s former house manager Samuel Miranda, his house staff member Dipesh Sawant and six drug alleged peddlers have been charged with allegedly supplying substances such as marijuana, charas, and hashish to the actor. While Sushant’s sister Shweta Singh Kirti welcomed Rhea’s arrest and tweeted “#GodIsWithUs”, Maneshinde called it a “travesty of justice”.