Actress Rhea Chakraborty was grilled for nine more hours on the fourth-consecutive day on Monday in the Sushant Singh death case, even as Messenger messages emerged that Suhant’s family was very much in the know of his depression.
In a day of multiple developments that saw officials questioning her brother Showik Chakraborty for the fifth consecutive day, also grilling the actor’s ex-manager Shruti Modi and the ED questioning hotelier from Goa Gaurav Arya.
The CBI questioned Rhea about circumstances leading to Sushant’s tragic death.
The CBI also asked her about her relationship with the late actor, his mental condition, and whether she - as a stay-in friend -- was giving medicines to Sushant, whether she had either given directly or administered drugs to Sushant, whether she had received money from the actor and whether she was taking financial and career decisions for the deceased actor.
Rhea has now been called on Tuesday for the fifth round of questioning.
In the ongoing electronic media trial, some more WhatsApp messages emerged on the mental condition of Sushant’s death in the run-up to the actor’s death and the fact that the actor’s family was very much in the know of the actor suffering from depression and Schizophrenia.
A day after some WhatsApp messages exchanged between Sushant’s sister Meethu and his ex-manager Shruti Modi on November 26, 2019, revealed that Shruti had sent to the actor’s sister medicines prescribed by the doctor’s prescription for her brother, Messenger messages emerged -- in which the actor’s another sister Priyanka was advising Sushant to take the medicines in the event of anxiety attacks.
Before Rhea left Sushant’s flat on June 8, Sushant was communicating with his sister Prinyaka, in which it emerged the latter offered to get prescriptions from a Delhi-based doctor for getting anti-depressant tablets for treatment of his condition. Among other things, Priyanka told him to have Librium capsules for a week and then start taking Nexito 10 mg once every day after breakfast. The medicines mentioned by Priyanka for Sushant were Librium, Nexito 10 mg and Lonazep.
On his part, Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde alleged that the actor’s Sushant had obtained anti-depressant tablets for her brother without proper prescription.
“Rhea in her statements to the CBI and ED said on June 8, Priyanka had chatted with Sushant. She asked Sushant to take three different medicines without prescription. Rhea protested as she said he was already taking medicines prescribed by Sushant’s doctors. Rhea had an argument with Sushant regarding the same and then Sushant asked her to leave. Rhea then called her brother, Showik Chakraborty, to take her home, Maneshinde told India Today.
Among other things, Maneshinde said while the family of Sushant had maintained that the late actor was not depressed, Rhea left Sushant’s home on June 8 because Priyanka asked Sushant to change his medicines without doctor’s prescription. He claimed that Sushant’s family had known about the late actor’s health. “The family denied and made a false statement with the CBI, the SC and Mumbai Police that it was Rhea who was giving drugs/medicines to Sushant,” Rhea’s lawyer said.
In a related development, the CBI questioned four staffers of the Waterstone Resort where the actor stayed for one and a half to two months to undergo spiritual healing.
Meanwhile, Goa-based hotelier Gaurav Arya, whose name has figured in drug-related issues involving Sushant, Rhea and others, was on Monday questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for nine hours in an alleged money laundering case-linked to Sushant’s death.
Arya, who had arrived in Mumbai on Sunday, appeared before the ED officials at 11 am. His questioning finished at 8 pm,
Accompanied by Delhi-based lawyer Manu Sharma, arrived in Mumbai from Goa.
It may be recalled that on Friday, the ED officials had visited Hotel Tamarind at Goa’s coastal village Anjuna. Seeing the hotel shut, they pasted the summons paper on the door of the hotel. Hotel Tamarind has been shut since March this year, because of the lockdown restrictions.