Sushant case: NCB nabs another suspect

PTI, Sep 3, 2020, 3:00 PM IST

Mumbai,: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is questioning another person, suspected to be a drug trafficker, in connection with the drug trafficking case linked to the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput”s death, officials said on Thursday, September 3.

The man whose identity has not been revealed is allegedly linked to Basit Parihar who has been arrested by the federal anti-narcotics agency in this case.

The NCB has arrested two people in this probe till now, the other being Zaid Vilatra (21).

Zaid was produced before a local court by the agency on Thursday that sent him to its custody till September 9.

Indian currency worth Rs 9,55,750 and foreign currency (USD 2,081, 180 British Pounds, 15 dirhams), which the NCB claimed are “proceeds of drug peddling”, were recovered from Zaid.

“Zaid disclosed that he runs an eatery in Bandra which was not giving any pecuniary gains since lockdown. He also disclosed that he is into drug peddling, especially bud, through which he used to earn a substantial amount of money,” the NCB had said.

According to the NCB, the best quality of bud is sold for about Rs 5,000 per gram.

Zaid came under the scanner after the agency arrested two people Abbas Lakhani and Karan Arora in another narcotics case on August 27-28 in Mumbai and recovered a bud consignment from them.

Lakhani had “linkages” with Zaid, the NCB claimed.

Bandra resident Parihar was arrested after interrogating Zaid. Parihar is learned to have “links” with the narcotics case registered against Rajput”s live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty, 28, and others.

“Parihar is linked to a person who in turn was allegedly reported to be featuring in chats recovered from the mobile phone of Rhea and her brother Showik,” they said.

Rhea is the main accused in the death case of the 34-year-old actor that is being probed by the NCB, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on money laundering charges, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The role of Rhea”s brother Showik and his purported links with the people nabbed by the NCB is under the scanner of the agency and he and Rajput”s manager Samuel Miranda is expected to be summoned for questioning soon, the officials said.

“Some more drug peddlers based in Maharashtra, Delhi, and Goa are also under the agency’s scanner,” they said.

The agency filed a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after the ED shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.

According to the officials, the mobile phone chats and messages indicated procurement, transportation, and consumption of drugs, and these leads were shared by the ED with the NCB and the CBI.

The NCB is understood to have obtained the phone records of other accused in the case too.

Rajput was found dead at his duplex flat in Bandra on June 14.