June 14 marks a year since 34-year-old Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput died at his Bandra apartment , which saw political parties trying to gain mileage from the incident, and in turn led to three national agencies in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) , Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) begin a probe. But none of the agencies have brought out a concrete report on Rajput’s death.
The Mumbai Police registered an accidental death report and said that the actor had died by suicide. After his death, then Mumbai Police spokesperson and Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay Ashok had said, “He died by suicide. Mumbai Police is investigating. The police have not found any (suicide) note yet.”
On June 28, 2020, the actor’s father registered an FIR in Patna accusing six people, including actor Rhea Chakraborty and her family members, of abetting Rajput’s suicide. The actor’s father in his complaint also claimed that ₹15 crore had been transferred from his son’s account to a few bank accounts he (Sushant) had connection with.
The FIR at Bihar saw the ED register a case on July 31, 2020 and begin a probe into alleged money laundering. Meanwhile, a team of Bihar Police arrived in Mumbai to investigate the case and found no cooperation from the Mumbai Police in the matter. Mumbai Police did not cooperate with Bihar Police as they felt it was against the norms to register an FIR in Bihar into a case that it (the Mumbai Police) was investigating.
This led to political outrage, following which the Bihar government transferred the case to the CBI. On August 6, 2020, the CBI registered an FIR against Ms. Chakraborty and others, and started a probe.
A team of CBI officials camped in Mumbai, took down statements from many people, went to the actor’s house and recreated the scene, and even roped in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to submit a forensic report.
Meanwhile, the ED, which is probing the money laundering case, found mention of drugs in mobile phone data it had recovered during its investigation.
Based on a letter from the ED, the NCB was roped into the investigation. After 10 months of investigation, NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede told The Hindu , “We have so far arrested 35 accused, seized 7 kg of drugs, ₹35 lakh, and some foreign currency. The investigation in the Sushant Singh murder case is still going on.”
CBI officials also maintained that the investigation into the case was going on. “We are investigating from all possible angles,” said a senior CBI officer, requesting anonymity.
ED Director S.K. Mishra did not respond to calls or messages.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appears for Rajput’s family said, “I don’t blame the investigating agencies that the charge sheet is not filed till now because there is so much mystery involved in his death. It has all happened in a closed room. The family is being patient and waiting for justice to be done.”
