As actress Rhea Chakraborty’s father Indrajit was grilled by the CBI for the second consecutive day in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, the late actor’s family lawyer Vikas Singh on Wednesday alleged that certain television channels were trying to tarnish the image of Sushant’s family to benefit the “accused” Rhea and that the actor’s mental problems started only after Rhea’s entry into his life.
A day after he and his wife Sandhya were questioned for more than eight hours, the CBI officials questioned Indrajit Chakraborty once again in connection with the actor’s death case. However, Rhea, her brother Showik and mother Sandya Chakraborty were called for questioning on Wednesday.
Indrajit and Sandhya Chakraborty are among the persons named along with Rhea, her brother Showik, Sushant’s ex-manager Shruti Modi and others in an FIR lodged by the actor’s father KK Singh with Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna. It was on the basis of this FIR that the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case to the CBI on August 19.
Rhea, her parents, her brother and others have been booked as part of this FIR under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 380 (theft), 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 306(abetting suicide) and 120-B(conspiracy) of the IPC.
Realising that the wind is blowing against his client, Sushant’s family lawyer Vikas Singh slammed television channels for “spreading canards’ against the actor’s family, in an apparent effort to counter a narrative that has emerged in the public domain that Sushant’s family members, particularly his sisters Meethu and Priyanka, were very much in the know of the fact the actor was suffering from depression and schizophrenia in the run-up to Sushant’s death.
Addressing a news conference, Vikas Singh said, “Three sisters of Sushant met me today…they told me that they were upset because a malicious campaign is being carried out in the media to tarnish the image of the family to provide benefit to the accused Rhea”.
The late actor’s family lawyer said, “Sushant Singh Rajput’s three sisters and his father are pained by a negative, false campaign against the family. The campaign relates to his mental health. A campaign is being carried out in the media that Sushant’s family knew about his depression, his bipolar disorder and still the same was concealed. The FIR filed (in the case) very clearly says that Sushant, after Rhea came into his life, started having mental problems. The FIR very clearly says that Rhea was responsible for his problems”.
“The FIR clearly says that because of the mental problems, he used to be anxious. FIR also clearly says whatever treatment he was getting through various doctors was never disclosed, the files were never given to the family. Some of the prescriptions being shared with the family just mentioned the tablets being taken and not the disease,” Vikas Singh said.
“It is in these circumstances that Rhea left Sushant was having anxiety problem. His sister who was also taking medicine for anxiety problems sent him a prescription,” Singh said.
Contesting that the speculation in the media that the suicide theory had deliberately been changed by the family to get the benefit of a purported life insurance policy taken by late Sushant, Vikas Singh said that the speculation did not hold water because the late actor had not taken any such life insurance policy
“There are suggestions being made by some channels that Sushant had a life insurance policy under which the family would not get money if he was declared to have died by way of suicide. It is for this motive, it is being alleged, the suicide theory was later on changed to abetment to suicide or order. I must inform you that Sushant had no life insurance policy and the canard that is being spread against is highly defamatory.
“And if this continues, the family would be forced to take action against those channels which continue to spread this kind of canard,” he said.
Singh said that Sushant’s family was making an earnest appeal not to increase the suffering of a bereaved family. “Please do not to add to the suffering by spreading canard and making false accusations,” he said.
It may be recalled that amid the ongoing electronic media trial, some more WhatsApp messages emerged early 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 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 on the medicines he should take 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 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 Chakraborty in her statements to the CBI and ED said that on June 8, Priyanka had chatted with Sushant. She asked Sushant to take three different medicines without prescriptions. Rhea protested as she said that 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 had told “India Today”.
Among other things, Maneshinde said that while the family of Sushant Singh Rajput 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 had said.