Advocate Singh on Wednesday said the family maintains they did not know that Rajput was suffering from depression.

THE CBI is in possession of at least three statements by Sushant Singh Rajput’s family members — shortly after his death — in which they flag his mental health. Two of them said the actor had been “feeling low” since 2013 and had sought psychiatric help that year and another statement said he wanted to leave films in 2013.

The statements, by two of Rajput’s four sisters, Priyanka Tanwar and Nitu Singh, and a brother-in-law, Siddharth Tanwar, were given to the Mumbai Police two days after his death. In his statement, Siddharth also said he felt that the actor committed suicide due to “anxiety and depression”, and there was no one he suspected or had any complaint against in this regard.

These statements run contrary to the claims made by Rajput’s father, K K Singh, and the family’s lawyer, Vikas Singh, that the family had no knowledge of the actor being depressed.

K K Singh, in his complaint to the Bihar police, had said they were not aware of Rajput suffering any mental illness before 2019, when Rhea Chakraborty entered his life. He had accused Chakraborty of giving his son an overdose of drugs.

When contacted about the statements of Rajput’s two sisters and brother-in-law, Vikas Singh said: “I am not aware of this, so I cannot comment. In any case, I do not want to comment on police investigations.”

On Tuesday, The Indian Express reported that CBI investigations had found that six days before Rajput’s death, Priyanka had recommended medicines for anxiety and got him a prescription for these medicines from a cardiologist at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi.

In her statement, Neetu, who is the wife of Haryana cadre IPS officer O P Singh and lives in Panchkula, told the police that Rajput had sought psychiatric help from a doctor in Andheri in 2013.

“In 2013, my brother Sushant Singh Rajput told me and other sisters that he was feeling very low. He used to come out of this once we all convinced him. In 2013, he consulted a psychiatrist in Andheri. After that, he became composed and his career was progressing well. He had attained huge success in very little time,” she said in her statement on June 16.

Neetu mentioned that the death of their mother in 2002 had affected Rajput deeply, as he was very attached to her.

The next mention of Rajput’s mental condition, in Neetu’s statement, relates to October 2019, when, she said, he told his family that he was feeling “very low”. She said he was feeling low due to “professional ups and downs”. This was the time when the actor’s sisters and O P Singh had gone to meet him in Mumbai and stayed with him for a few days.

A month later, Neetu said in her statement, Rajput continued to feel low and sought help from a doctor at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai. According to her statement, on June 4 this year, Rajput again told Neetu that he was feeling very low, and their sister, Meetu, stayed with him for a few days. Meetu left for her home in Mumbai’s Goregaon on June 12. Rajput was found hanging in his apartment on June 14.

“I don’t know if Sushant committed suicide due to business or some other reason,” Neetu said in her statement.

Priyanka’s statement, also recorded on June 16, mentioned the same details.

Sister wrote to Sushant Singh Rajput on anxiety drugs six days before death

Priyanka’s husband Siddharth Tanwar, a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court, said in his statement that in November 2009, Rajput had called up Priyanka and said he was unwell and was “feeling strange”. He called her to Mumbai, Siddharth said, following which he called the actor to Delhi.

Siddharth told police that Rajput’s sisters went to meet him in Mumbai, and booked his flight ticket to Chandigarh. But the actor refused to go at the last minute. “He used to keep changing his mind,” he said in his statement.

In 2013, Siddharth said, Rajput visited them at their house in Delhi. At that time, his film Shuddh Desi Romance was scheduled to release. “He told me he was totally satisfied on seeing his posters everywhere and he didn’t want to work in films anymore. I made him understand that in life, everyone has to do some work. After that he started working in films again,” he said in his statement.

In May this year, according to Siddharth’s statement, Rajput again told him that he was not feeling well and wanted to leave films and start teaching children and do farming instead. “I asked him to come to Delhi, but he could not because of the Covid situation,” he said in his statement.

The CBI is also in possession of the statements recorded by Rajput’s father K K Singh and sister Meetu Singh. None of them have mentioned Rajput’s mental condition in 2013.

K K Singh, in his statement, said he last met his son on May 13, 2019, when the actor had gone to Patna for two days. “He was not tense in any way,” he said.

He said he would usually send a WhatsApp text to Rajput instead of calling, as the actor would be busy. The last conversation that K K Singh had with Rajput was on June 7, when he asked Rajput to come to Patna. “Let me see, I am not feeling well,” the actor told his father, according to the statement.

“I am not aware as to why my son has committed suicide. He never discussed with me about any type of depression or tension. I feel Sushant might have committed suicide out of dejection,” K K Singh said in his statement.

When contacted, Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, said: “The family knew about Sushant’s condition since the beginning. They have deliberately chosen to make false statements, before the Bihar police and even the courts. If Rhea had anything to do with the incident, why didn’t they make these allegations in the beginning. The truth is coming out now. Those who make false statements before courts should be prosecuted.”