Sushant Singh Rajput case: 11 of the latest developments

It isn’t easy keeping up with the developments and twists that are emerging after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. As media trials and turf wars between Bihar and Mumbai Police unfurl, here are the top developments so far this week in the investigation into the late actor’s death.

1. Sushant Singh Rajput’s father KK Singh has stepped forward after 40 days of mourning and is now keen to get justice for his son’s death. On August 4, Singh urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to order a Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case, currently being investigated by the Mumbai Police. According to NDTV, Kumar has now recommended a CBI probe after speaking to KK Singh on the phone.

2. The father also released a video claiming that he had made a complaint to Mumbai Police on February 25 this year about his son’s life being in danger, but there was no action taken. Their apathy shown by the Mumbai Police during that time prompted him to file an FIR in his native Patna after his son’s death on June 14. But the Mumbai Police has denied these allegations and claim that there was no written complaint or FIR filed by Rajput’s family members earlier this year at the Bandra Police Station.

3. Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, who has been slapped with a series of charges including abetment of Rajput’s suicide, also appeared in a video saying that truth shall prevail and that she cannot comment as the matter is sub-judice. Clad in a white kurta and visibly troubled, Chakraborty claimed that she had immense faith in God and the judiciary. She spoke with folded hands imploring everyone not to believe the things that were being said about her online.

4. Chakraborty’s lawyer has been fighting to transfer the investigation in the case registered by the Bihar Police to Mumbai. He also claimed that Chakraborty was denied entry at her boyfriend’s funeral. “Rhea Chakraborty has always been living in Mumbai. She was in Mumbai on 14th June 2020. She was not allowed to attend the funeral of Sushant Singh as her name was struck off from the list of 20,” Satish Maneshinde said.

5. Mumbai Police claims there was no party at Rajput’s home on June 13, the night before he was found dead at his Mumbai residence. The CCTV footage gathered from his apartment has been checked thoroughly and there was no revelry, as reported by several sections of the media.

6. Initially it was producer Sandip Ssingh (right) who seemed to be Rajput’s closest friend and confidante, right after the death of the actor. Ssingh reportedly handled all the processes after Rajput was found hanging from his ceiling. But more than a month after the tragedy, several of Rajput’s friends have come forward questioning Ssingh’s alleged closeness to the actor.

7. Chakraborty (pictured at the Bandra police station) has been accused by Rajput’s father of transferring huge amounts of his son’s cash to unidentified accounts. To probe the money laundering allegations, the Enforcement Directorate has come into the picture.

8. After more than a month, Rajput’s flatmates are under the spotlight. Siddarth Pithani has shared a series of text message sent to him by police officer and Rajput’s brother-in-law OP Singh. The messages reflect his brother-in-law’s disappointment at Rajput’s friends and how they seem to be controlling his career, his time and money. “Please keep my wife away from your problems. It’s because of the company you keep, unhelpful habits and gross mismanagement. I am determined to ensure that my wife [Rajput’s sister] is not penalised only because she’s so good,” revealed one of his texts.

9. The theory that Sushant Singh Rajput’s career was thwarted by Bollywood’s top power brokers such as Karan Johar continues to flourish. Johar’s latest production ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’ has been ambushed with online hate and calls for a boycott since Johar cast star kid Janhvi Kapoor to play the lead role in the biopic.

10. Going by the rabid reportage by certain TV news anchors, director Ram Gopal Varma (pictured) has joined the publicity bandwagon and tweeted that he is now going to make a film on journalist Arnab Goswami and the way he has been covering the Rajput’s death and media trials.

11. Disha Salian’s mother has vehemently denied any connection between her daughter’s suicide and the actor’s. Salian was Rajput’s manager for a short while. She died after falling from a high-rise building in Mumbai on June 8. “This cannot have a connection with Sushant’s death, she never took his name,” Vasanti told Zee News. “We didn’t know that she was Sushant’s manager. We came to know later. Only once, she had told us that she had gone to Sushant’s house with somebody. How can there be a connection after meeting him just once? She was his manager for a very short time.” Her mother also said she can’t believe her daughter took her own life. “She was a very brave girl. We don’t know what happened during those last moments.”