NCB arrests SSR's ex-flatmate Siddharth Pithani, sent to 5-day custody
Siddharth Pithani, who had come under the scanner ever since Sushant Singh Rajput's death last June, has been arrested from Hyderabad today. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) nabbed him in connection to the drug angle being probed in this case. He has been sent to 5-day custody, said the agency. To note, this development comes just weeks before the actor's first death anniversary.
He'll be shortly produced in court: Mumbai Zonal Unit in-charge
Talking about this development, Sameer Wankhede, who is in charge of Mumbai Zonal Unit, NCB, told ETimes, "Siddharth Pithani has been arrested. He'll be shortly produced in court." NCB has been probing the drug angle in this high-profile case since six months, and this is one of their major arrests. Earlier, the agency had identified one Dubai-based Sahil Shah as the prime suspect.
Arrest comes two months after NCB's 12,000-page-long chargesheet
Pithani's arrest comes two months after NCB filed a 12,000-page-long chargesheet, naming actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, and 31 others, including Samuel Miranda, SSR's ex-manager, and domestic help Dipesh Sawant. It contained statements of 200 witnesses and reportedly explained how narcotic substances were procured and distributed across Mumbai. Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh and Sara Ali Khan were also summoned for questioning.
CBI, Mumbai Police interrogated Pithani; also subjected to media trial
Apart from NCB, CBI, which is still investigating the high-profile death case, also interrogated Pithani in August and September last year. Mumbai Police too had questioned him on a couple of occasions. Pithani was also subjected to media trial, with many channels exposing his lies, based on his contradicting statements. As soon as this news broke, Twitter started flooding with reactions.
Netizens also asked Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, to take note
Netizens also took a dig at Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, who was previously asked to change the cause of SSR's death. The hashtag Wikipedia Sushant was killed was created last week, where Twitter users asked the forum to change "suicide by hanging" to "murdered." In reply, Wales had written, "Dear fans of Sushant Singh Rajput, Wikipedia is based on reliable sources, not Twitter campaigns."
Just hours before Pithani's arrest, Chakraborty had reflected on #rheality
Interestingly, just hours before Pithani's arrest, Chakraborty, Rajput's girlfriend, took to Instagram to write a couple of lines, reflecting on #rheality. "From great suffering, comes great strength! You'll just have to trust me on this one..Hang in there Love Rhea," the Chehre actress wrote. Tracing back, Chakraborty was also arrested by NCB last year, but was given bail a month later.
