Sushant Singh Rajput's friend Rishikesh Pawar detained in drugs case
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has detained late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's friend, Rishikesh Pawar, who had been absconding for nearly one month, reports said today. Pawar, an assistant director, had been untraceable since the anti-drug agency summoned him for questioning. The NCB had subsequently launched a search for him. Here are more details on this.
Questioning of Pawar is underway at NCB's office
As reported by The Indian Express, an NCB official stated, "Pawar was detained by the Mumbai zonal team of the NCB after various summons were issued to him (sic)." Pawar's name had surfaced after another accused, Dipesh Sawant identified him as one of the persons who supplied drugs to Rajput. Based on his claims, the NCB had raided Pawar's house and seized some gadgets.
NCB claims Pawar was non-cooperative during first interrogation
The NCB has claimed that it was not convinced with Pawar's earlier statements. "We wanted to question him about the drugs angle from the very beginning but he was non-cooperative and had refused to come in for questioning despite being issued summons. This further strengthened our suspicion about his role in the case (sic)," an NCB official had earlier revealed.
Pawar had approached the Mumbai sessions court for bail
Pawar had also earlier approached the Mumbai sessions court seeking an anticipatory bail in this matter, but it was rejected. When a team of NCB officials reached his Chembur residence in January, he had already fled, reports say.
NCB started the drug probe after Rajput's demise
After the untimely death of Rajput on June 14, 2020, the anti-drug agency started a probe based on the allegations of drug abuse in the Hindi film industry. The NCB has thus far summoned many actors for questioning, including Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet, Sara Ali Khan, among others. They had also earlier arrested Rajput's former partner, actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother.
CBI investigation is still on
It has been over five months since the Central Bureau of Investigation took charge of Rajput's death case. However, it is yet to put forward its report. "The CBI is conducting investigation in a thorough and professional manner...During investigation, all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has been ruled out as on date," the agency had said in a statement last year.
