ED sees Rhea brother as weakest link in chain

The Enforcement Directorate has decided to concentrate on the weakest link in the Rhea-Sushant chain – her brother Showik, who was known for his easy ways, penchant for clinging onto affluent friends and was more likely to have benefited from his sister’s proximity to the deceased actor.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Showik Chakraborty was grilled for about 18 hours in connection with a money laundering case that ED suspects is linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Showik left the central investigative agency’s office in the Ballard Estate around 6:30 AM after an overnight questioning session that began around noon on Saturday.

The grilling focussed mostly on his spending habits, the mismatch with his income, personal business and investments and financial transactions with his sister and Rajput. He was grilled by the agency for a few hours on August 7 as well, the day Rhea was questioned by the agency for the first time.

According to officials, he has reportedly given "evasive or unconvincing replies" to the ED team and is likely to be summoned again.

Rhea and her father Indrajit have has been summoned to appear before the agency again on Monday. Also in the spotlight are Rhea’s chartered accountant Ritesh Shah and business manager Shruti Modi, who also worked for Rajput.

Agency sources have said they “want more answers” from Rhea over the alleged discrepancies between her income, expenditure and investments. They said while Chakraborty had filed Income Tax returns declaring an income of about Rs 14 lakh, the value of her investments was reportedly higher. Also under the ED’s scanner is a property located in the city’s Khar area and another in Navi Mumbai, both linked to Rhea.