Bihar govt backs CBI inquiry into Rajput’s death

nPATNA/MUMBAI: The Bihar government on Tuesday recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, chief minister Nitish Kumar said.

“The state government has sent its recommendation for a CBI inquiry into the case filed by Mr KK Singh, the father of late Sushant Singh Rajput,” Kumar tweeted in Hindi. Earlier in the day, Kumar said the government decided to recommend a CBI probe after the actor’s father gave his “consent” for it while talking to the state’s police chief.

On July 25, KK Singh, Rajput’s father, lodged a police complaint against Rhea Chakraborty, the actor’s girlfriend, of abetting his suicide, keeping him in wrongful confinement and defrauding him of crores of rupees. But Chakraborty’s lawyer said the Bihar government cannot recommend a CBI probe since police from that state do not have the jurisdiction. “There cannot be transfer of a case which had no legal basis to begin with for the Bihar police to get involved,” lawyer Satish Maneshinde said.

Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14. Mumbai Police have registered an Accidental Death Report and an investigation is underway in the case. At the same time, a Bihar Police team is in Mumbai to probe the case, acting on the complaint by Rajput’s father. Maharashtra’s ruling coalition partners — the NCP and the Congress — too criticised Bihar’s move for a CBI probe, saying it encroaches upon the rights of their state.