A Mumbai court on Tuesday night sent Rhea Chakraborty to judicial custody till September 22. Earlier in the day, the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested her as part of the probe into the drug angle in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
“Whatever she said was sufficient for the arrest. We have arrested her, it means we had enough,” said Deputy Director General, South-Western Region, NCB, MA Jain. She was taken to Sion hospital for a medical test. Jain said she had tested negative for Covid-19.
Chakraborty’s brother Showik Chakraborty and Rajput’s former domestic staffer Samuel Miranda were arrested last week.
Rhea Chakraborty was questioned over three days before the process to arrest her began. She has also been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with Rajput’s death.
Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Bandra on June 14, in what the Mumbai Police said was a case of suicide.
10.36 pm: Her bail plea has been rejected too, reports ANI.
10.35 pm: A Mumbai court sends Rhea Chakraborty to 14-days judicial custody, her lawyer Satish Maneshinde confirms to India Today.
9.48 pm: Prominent Bollywood personalities like Anurag Kashyap and Vidya Balan have come out in support of Rhea Chakraborty.
8.48 pm: The NCB seeks 14-day judicial custody of Rhea Chakraborty, according to reports, citing sources.
8.09 pm: The NCB’s remand report does not mention that Chakraborty has confessed to consuming drugs, reports India Today, citing a copy of the agency’s report.
8.08 pm: Chakraborty has applied for bail after being arrested by the NCB, reports India Today. Her application has been moved to the court.
7.13 pm: The NCB official says the agency does not support bail for Chakraborty. “We will oppose bail to her. We are only seeking judicial custody but we don’t support the bail,” Jain says, ANI reports.
7.10 pm: Jain adds that the agency has not recovered any contraband from Chakraborty. “Rhea was sent for a routine medical check-up,” he says, according to ANI. “She tested negative for Covid-19. Whatever she said was sufficient for the arrest. We have arrested her, it means we had enough.”
7.06 pm: “Rhea Chakraborty will be produced produced before magistrate shortly,” Deputy Director General, South-Western Region, NCB, MA Jain tells the media. “We don’t need her custody remand so we will seek judicial custody. We are not asking for her custody remand as whatever we wanted to cross with her, we have done already.”
6.50 pm: Chakraborty has been charged under Sections 8(c) [possession, consumption, selling], 20(b) [possession, consumption, selling], 27(a) [financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders], 28 [attempts to commit offences] and 29 [abetment and criminal conspiracy] of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, according to reports.
6.24 pm: The NCB may not seek remand for Chakraborty, reports India Today. “We are not asking for remand, we have examined [Rhea Chakraborty] for 3 days,” an unidentified official tells the news channel.
6.21 pm: “Three agencies are probing the matter,” the Bihar Director General of Police tells ANI. “Let them do their job. Findings of NCB came to the fore, Rhea Chakraborty was arrested, there was a furore in the country. The Enforcement Directorate and the CBI are still probing, findings will come and they will be alarming. I think Sushant will get justice.”
5.10 pm: Rhea Chakraborty will be produced before a magistrate via video conferencing by 7.30 pm today, says NCB Deputy Director KPS Malhotra, according to ANI.
4.24 pm: Sushant Singh Rajpu’s sister Shweta Singh Kirti welcomes Rhea Chakraborty’s arrest.
4.16 pm: Sushant Singh Rajput’s cousin Neeraj Bablu tells News18 that the family believes justice will be served.
4.10 pm: Chakraborty has admitted to organising drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput and also consuming them at times, during her questioning, NDTV reports, citing sources.
4.07 pm: Actor Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer says her arrest is a “travesty of justice”, reports India Today. “Three Central Agencies hounding a single woman just because she was in love with a drug addict who was suffering from mental health issues for several years under care of five leading psychiatrists and then committed suicide,” he adds.
4.04 pm: Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey says the Narcotics Control Bureau must have found evidence against Rhea Chakraborty after her arrest, reports ANI. “She is totally exposed in the sense that she had connection with drug peddlers,” he adds. “This has been established, that is why she has been arrested.”
3.58 pm: Actor Rhea Chakraborty arrested in connection with drugs inquiry by the Narcotics Control Bureau, reports NDTV.
3.47 pm: KPS Malhotra, deputy director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, tells ANI that Rhea Chakraborty yet to be formally arrested. Paperwork and other formalities are being completed, he adds.
3.45 pm: Chakraborty has been questioned in connection with drugs-related allegations in the case for the last three days.
3.42 pm: The process to arrest Rhea Chakraborty in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput is underway, NDTV reports. Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Bandra on June 14, in what the Mumbai Police said was a case of suicide.