With the investigation in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case moving to and fro, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has now summoned four female actors while probing the drug angle in the case. Deepika Padukone‘s name comes on top because of the popularity and sheer stature of being one of the most loved faces in the country. Actors Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Rakul Preet Singh, who have emerged as the sweethearts of the generation with their performances on screen, come next on the list. Surprisingly, the NCB has got no male celebrity ‘on their radar’ as of now. Also Read – Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh Summoned by NCB For Interrogation
The federal anti-narcotics agency has already been in a spot for initiating a ‘witch-hunting’ against Rhea Chakraborty, the prime accused in the SSR case. The actor has been arrested under section 27A (financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders) of the NDPS act. In her bail plea filed on Wednesday in the Bombay High Court, Rhea’s lawyer mentioned that “apart from allegedly coordinating the purchase of drugs and occasionally paying for the said purchase, there is no other allegation, yet the prosecution is terming her alleged acts as ‘financing illicit traffic’.” Also Read – Bollywood’s Silence on #MeToo Against Sajid Khan is Shameful; ‘Smash The Patriarchy’, Anyone?
The big question to NCB in Rhea’s bail plea
Rhea’s bail plea also mentioned that the agency has not disclosed any chat in which SSR is shown asking drugs for his own consumption which is both surprising and worth giving a thought. “The prosecution surprisingly has not disclosed a single phone call, mobile call, SMS, WhatsApp message or email of Sushant Singh Rajput as to how he procured his drugs for his own consumption rather than blaming his entire staff, (Rhea Chakraborty), her brother and a host of others who allegedly supplied drugs for his own consumption,” read the bail petition.
The emergence of Deepika Padukone’s name
Deepika’s name in the case is not directly linked with the SSR probe. The actor’s name emerged in a WhatsApp chat that dates back to October 2017 in which the Piku star was allegedly asking ‘K’ – identified as her manager Karishma Prakash – to get ‘hash’ for her. No such chats have yet been disclosed in relation to Sara, Rakul or Shraddha. While Sara had worked with SSR in the 2018 movie Kedarnath, which was her movie debut in Bollywood, Shraddha had worked with the late actor in 2019 Chhichhore. Neither Rakul nor Deepika ever worked with Sushant.
Interestingly, the reports that mentioned Sara, Rakul and Shraddha’s involvement in procuring and consuming drugs with Rhea and SSR, were the same reports that also mentioned the name of Mukesh Chhabra, SSR’s close friend and a popular male casting director-turned-filmmaker in the industry.
Rhea’s bail plea is to be heard today and the female actors have been summoned for September 25 and 26 by the NCB.