PLOT THICKENS: NEW SHOCKERS EMERGE
Sushant Singh Rajput’s father, in an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty, claims she blackmailed the actor over his mental health
Was it suicide? Was it a systematic dismantling of a fragile mind? Nobody knows for sure, but the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput has left several questions unanswered. And the plot thickens with each passing day since that fateful Sunday of June 14. What started as an open-and-shut case of suicide, and triggered a debate on nepotism in Hindi films, has, 45 days later, taken a sharp turn. Rajput’s father, Krishna Kumar Singh, has lodged an FIR at a police station in Patna, Bihar, against his late son’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, and her family, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including abetment to suicide. He accused her of exploiting his son financially, keeping him away from family, blackmailing the actor about his alleged mental health and withdrawing around ₹15 crore from Rajput’s account. In turn, Chakraborty has hired noted lawyer Satish Maneshinde and also moved court to get the case transferred to Mumbai.
While Rajput’s death was already being probed by Mumbai Police, a four-member Patna Police team has now reached Mumbai to question Chakraborty and her family, including her parents Indrajit and Sandhya as well as brother Showik Chakraborty.
Mumbai Police has so far questioned around 40 people including producer Aditya Chopra, filmmakers Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Mahesh Bhatt, in the course of its probe. Even Apoorva Mehta, of Dharma Productions, was summoned for questioning. He reportedly submitted a copy of Rajput’s contract of the film Drive, to the police. Filmmaker Karan Johar and actor
Kangana Ranaut are expected to be questioned soon.
On the other hand, Rajput’s fans and several members of the industry have long sought a CBI enquiry. Interestingly, some time back Chakraborty had tweeted to request Union Home Minister Amit Shah to initiate such a probe, saying, she only wants to “understand what pressures prompted Sushant to take this step”. It’s a question everyone wants the answer to.