A year after his death, CBI yet to conclude its Sushant probe
NEW DELHI: A year after actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra house in Mumbai, the Central Bureau of Investigation is yet to conclude whether he died by suicide or there was foul play in his death.
The premier investigation agency is currently studying a psychiatric evaluation carried out by experts of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to assess Singh’s state of mind prior to death, people familiar with the development said.
It is also examining reports shared by CFSL on the electronic devices as well as dump data of the relevant cell tower locations to determine what happened on June 14 last year, when Singh was found dead, the officers quoted above said.
To be sure, the CBI investigation into Singh’s death began in the first week of August last year. Prior to that, Mumbai Police were investigating it and did not find any foul play. Subodh Jaiswal, the current CBI director, was heading Maharashtra police at that time.
The 34-year-old actor was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai’s Bandra on June 14. Rajput’s father, KK Singh, lodged a complaint with the Patna police against Rhea Chakraborty, her parents and her brother, Showik, on June 25. The case was later transferred to CBI. Two other agencies — the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) — are also investigating different aspects pertaining to the case.
A CBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the investigators don’t want to rush their findings even though the medical board of AIIMS concluded in September 2020, after studying the post-mortem exam and viscera reports, that the actor’s death was a case of suicide.
Dr Sudhir Gupta, head of forensic science and toxicology, AIIMS, said: “We already submitted our findings to the CBI according to which the cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging. There was no injury on Sushant Singh’s body, no struggle marks, no disturbance of clothing. Also, nothing suspicious was found in his viscera.”
Gupta further said the AIIMS medical board’s findings are consistent with the post-mortem exam report of Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital in Vile Parle, Mumbai. “It’s a classic case of suicide and the whole panel was unanimous on this,” he added. Singh’s family members and lawyer Vikas Singh have, however, termed the AIIMS report faulty.
A CBI officer with knowledge of the matter said the probe team sought clarifications from the AIIMS team on multiple occasions in the last 5-6 months. “It (the team) is studying the forensic, electronic and psychiatric analysis reports right now.”
Vikas Singh said on Sunday: “I am only hoping that CBI is able to bring out a watertight case instead of doing a shoddy job, which doesn’t stand scrutiny of courts. It’s a little too long but maybe because CBI wants to look thoroughly into the whole thing that they are taking time.”
He asked: “Why hasn’t CBI done custodial interrogation of persons staying with Sushant Singh at that time?”
In a statement issued in December 2020, CBI said it was conducting the probe in a thorough and professional manner using the latest scientific techniques.
“During the investigation, advanced mobile forensic equipment including the latest software has been used for extraction and analysis of relevant data available in the digital devices and also for analysis of dump data of the relevant cell tower locations related to the case,” CBI said.
It visited cities including Aligarh, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Manesar, and Patna to collect evidence and record statements. Among those examined in the last 10 months include Singh’s friends, staff, his doctors, actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family members, several members of the film fraternity, etc. “The investigating team and senior officers have visited the place of incident on numerous occasions for better understanding of the circumstances related to the incident. The experts of CFSL, New Delhi, considered the best in their field in India, also visited and examined the place of the incident. The experts also carried out simulation exercises,” the CBI said in December.