Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14. After a case of alleged abetment of suicide was registered against Rhea Chakraborty by Rajput's parents, a parallel probe into alleged drug procurement by her also began on the basis of her WhatsApp chats.
Chakraborty, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on September 9 in a drugs case related to Rajput's death, walked out of Byculla women's prison in Mumbai on Wednesday.
While Rhea found some relief in the drugs case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is still investigating the actor’s death.
Over a period of four months, the actor’s family made several accusations against the actress, most of which have been busted.
Money laundering
Sushant's father K.K. Singh in his complaint to Bihar Police on July 25, alleged that Rs 15 crore was withdrawn or transferred from his son's Kotak Mahindra Bank account, following which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Rhea and her family members on July 31.
The ED found no big transactions from the late Bollywood actor's accounts to the bank account of his girlfriend.
Member of active drug syndicate
The Narcotics Control Bureau had alleged that Rhea used to procure drugs for actor Sushant Singh Rajput, her boyfriend, who committed suicide at his Mumbai house on June 14.
The agency had said there existed ample material to show that Chakraborty arrested in the case represented a "chain," and an "active syndicate" that was involved in procuring, financing, harbouring and abetting drugs and its consumption.
"She is not part of drug dealers. She has not forwarded the drugs allegedly procured by her to somebody else to earn monetary or other benefits," the Bombay High Court said.
But its probe so far had not revealed any recovery of drugs either from Rhea or from Rajput's house, the court pointed out.
"It is their (NCB's) own case that the drugs were already consumed and hence there was no recovery.
In that case, there is nothing at this stage to show that the applicant (Rhea) had committed any offence involving commercial quantity of contraband," HC said.
Murder by poison/strangulation theory
Sushant’s father openly accused Chakraborty of poisoning his son and that she was his murderer. In a 15-second video, Singh, speaking in Hindi, demanded the CBI arrest Rhea and her associates.
"Rhea used to feed poison to my son Sushant for a long time. She is his murderer. Rhea and her associates should be immediately arrested and punished," said Singh in the video clip.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) submitted its report on the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the CBI.
It ruled out murder in the death of Rajput, terming it "a case of hanging and death by suicide", the premier institute's forensic chief Dr Sudhir Gupta had said.
In its conclusive medico-legal opinion to the CBI, the six-member team dismissed the claims of "poisoning and strangling", with Dr Gupta saying the panel did not find any trace of poison and drugs in the viscera.
Rhea’s bail conditions
While granting her bail on a personal bond of Rs one lakh, the court asked the actor to appear before the Mumbai police for 10 days and before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB, which had arrested her) once a month for the next six months.
The HC observed in its order that Rhea did not have any criminal antecedents, and it was unlikely that she would tamper with evidence or affect the probe while out on bail.
Rhea, however, can't leave Mumbai without the NCB's permission and for traveling outside the country, she will need permission from the special NDPS court.
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