More than four years after it took over the probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a closure report in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, sources said on Saturday.
Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his flat in Mumbai’s Bandra on June 14, 2020. His death had shocked thousands of fans and given rise to several theories – including some alleging a black magic angle – prompting an investigation.
Officials said the closure report has been filed in two cases – the allegations made by Sushant Rajput’s father against his then girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty and Ms Chakraborty’s allegations against Sushant’s family.
The CBI had taken over the case from the Bihar Police in August 2020. Sources said that after conducting an investigation for over four years, the agency did not find any evidence that anyone had driven Sushant Rajput to suicide and Ms Chakraborty and her family have been given a clean chit. The CBI, they said, absolved everyone named in the two FIRs filed in the case, including Ms Chakraborty, her parents and brother.
A forensic team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had also stated that Sushant Rajput was not murdered and it was a case of death by suicide.
After the death, the Bihar Police had registered an abetment of suicide case based on a complaint filed in Patna by Rajput’s father KK Singh. The actor’s family had accused Ms Chakraborty of mentally harassing him, medicating him, exploiting him for money and playing a role in his death.
When the CBI took over the investigation, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) was asked to forensically examine the crime scene. A laptop, hard disks, a Canon camera and two mobiles were seized and all of them were forensically examined.
Ms Chakraborty was among over 20 people who were questioned during the investigation.
After the submission of the closure report, the Bandra magistrate court has scheduled the next hearing for the case on April 8. Once the closure report is allowed by the court, the case can be disposed of.
‘False Narratives’
In a statement, Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said he and the actor were grateful to the CBI for having thoroughly investigated every aspect of the case but added that the false narratives around the case were “totally uncalled for”.
“Due to the pandemic everyone was glued to the TV & social media in the absence of anything happening in the country. Innocent people were hounded and paraded before the media and investigative authorities. I hope this does not repeat in any case… Rhea Chakraborty had to undergo untold miseries and was behind bars for 27 days for no fault of hers until Justice Sarang V Kotwal released her on bail,” he said.
“I salute her and her family for having kept silent and yet suffered the inhuman treatment they were meted (sic)… Both Rhea’s family and my team and I were hounded and threatened… Today I can share that I’m proud to have defended a fauji (Army) family pro bono… This country is still very safe and every citizen crying for justice has hope due to our vibrant judiciary,” the lawyer added.
Circular Cancelled
In October last year, the Supreme Court had upheld the Bombay High Court’s decision to cancel the CBI’s lookout circular issued against them following Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
Calling the petition “frivolous”, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan had observed that it appeared that the CBI, the government of Maharashtra and the Bureau of Immigration had challenged the Bombay High Court’s decision just because the accused were from a high-profile background.
“We are warning you. You are filing such a frivolous petition, only because one of the accused is a high-profile person. It will be dismissed with exemplary cost. Both persons have deep roots in society,” Justice Gavai had said.
The circular against Ms Chakraborty, her brother Showik, mother Sandhya and father Lt Colonel Indrajit Chakraborty (retired) were issued in 2020.