The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has rejected actor Rhea Chakraborty’s request to postpone the recording of her statement in connection with a money laundering probe related to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s case
Declining her request to put off the questioning today, the ED said it would wait for her till 11.30 am and put out fresh summons if she didn’t show up.
“She has requested a postponement of the recording of her statement because of the Supreme Court hearing,” Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said this morning.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that it is unfortunate that a gifted artist like Sushant Singh Rajput passed away under unusual circumstances and the truth in the matter should come out.
Justice Hrishikesh Roy, hearing the arguments on a plea by Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea seeking transfer of the case from Patna to Mumbai, said “very unfortunate incident has taken place”.
The judge also added that it needs to be investigated whether there was any criminality involved in the matter.
Posting the matter for further hearing next week, the Supreme Court also sought a status report from Mumbai Police in three days on its probe so far into the actor’s death.
The Enforcement Directorate had summoned the actress for questioning today in connection with a money laundering case stemming from a complaint filed by Sushant Singh Rajput’s father following his death, officials said on Wednesday.
Chakraborty will be questioned and her statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The questioning is linked to a money laundering case that was registered by the ED late July on the basis of a Bihar Police FIR in which Rajput’s father has accused Rhea Chakraborty and her family of abetting the Bollywood actor’s suicide.
The ED’s money laundering case pertains to transactions involving Rs 15 crore and allegedly related to the ‘suicide’ of Sushant Singh.
The agency had sought details of the FIR registered against Rhea by the Bihar Police and the details of two companies owned by Sushant Singh Rajput and Rhea’s family from the banks. The ED has also sought details of the financial transactions of Vividrage Rhealityx, in which Rhea is a director, and Front India For World, in which her brother Showik is a director
Sushant Singh Rajput’s father has accused her of cheating and threatening his son. Sushant’s family has also accused her of keeping him away from his family.
Meanwhile, earlier on Thursday, a day after the Centre asked the agency to probe the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against six persons, including Rhea Chakraborty and her family members, on the basis of the FIR filed by Bihar Police on his family’s complaint.
The CBI has named Rhea, her father Indrajit Chakraborty, mother Sandhya Chakraborty, brother Showik Chkaraborty, Sushant’s house manager Samuel Miranda, Shruti Modi and unknown others. They have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including abetment of suicide, criminal conspiracy, wrongful restraint/confinement, theft, criminal breach of trust, cheating and other offences.
A CBI spokesperson said that the agency has registered the case on the request of Bihar government and further notification from the Central government and taken over the investigation of the Bihar Police case registered at police station Rajiv Nagar in Patna.
The CBI has handed the case over to its Special Investigation Team (SIT) branch, which earlier investigated the high profile cases like Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, and liquor baron Vijay Mallya bank fraud case.
The development came a day after the Department of Personnel and Training issued a notification, paving the way for the central investigative agency to register a case.
The 34-year-old actor was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then the police have been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. Rejecting any foul play, the final post-mortem report had stated that Sushant died of asphyxia as a result of hanging.