Actress Rhea Chakraborty and two of her family members, who were once again summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput case, appeared before the central probe agency on Monday.
Besides Chakraborty, her father Inderjit Chakraborty and brother Showik Chakraborty, the ED has also summoned Sushant’s friend Siddharth Pithani, who had skipped a summon to appear on Saturday.
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This is second time that Rhea is appearing before the ED after she was questioned for around nine hours on Friday, while her brother is being questioned for the third time.
The Enforcement Directorate had on Saturday grilled Showik Chakraborty, who was seen leaving after more than 18 hours around 7 am on Sunday.
According to officials, he has reportedly given “evasive or unconvincing replies” to the ED team quizzing him.
The questioning is linked to a money laundering case that was registered by the ED on July 31 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 Rajput.
The ED has also sought details of the financial transactions of the firm — Vividrage Rhealityx, in which Rhea is a director; and Front India For World, in which her brother Showik Chakraborty 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.
Earlier on Friday, Rhea Chakraborty had requested the ED to postpone the recording of her statement in the money laundering probe related to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s case citing the ongoing Supreme Court hearing on her transfer petition.
However, the probe agency rejected her request and the actress appeared before the ED for questioning.
The ED is recording the statements of Rhea and family under the Prevention of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government on Saturday submitted, in a sealed cover, the investigation report in the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the Supreme Court.
The apex court has listed the hearing on the Sushant case on August 11.
On August 5, the top court had sought responses from Bihar and Maharashtra governments after the hearing in the petition filed by Rhea Chakraborty seeking transfer of case from Patna to Mumbai.
On Saturday, Sushant’s father KK Singh had informed the Supreme Court, in a counter-affidavit, that Rhea has already begun to influence witnesses connected with the case and has also taken a U-turn on the CBI probe.
Citing an email relied upon by Rhea, he asked that if this email was sent by Sushant’s friend Siddharth Pithani to the Mumbai Police, why it was shared by the potential witness with Rhea, who is a prime suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, earlier on August 6, a day after the Centre asked the agency to probe the death of Sushant, 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.
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.
Rajput, 34, 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.
