Published 12:47 IST, July 28th 2020
Karan Johar's banner submits contract copy for Sushant's 'Drive' as Dharma CEO questioned
The Mumbai Police investigating the Sushant Singh Rajput case received the contract copy from Karan Johar's banner as CEO Apoorva Mehta got questioned.
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The Mumbai Police is questioning Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta in connection with Sushant Singh Rajut’s death. After summons were issued to Mehta on Sunday, he was called for recording his statement at the Amboli police station in Mumbai. It was reported that he was carrying the contract copy with Sushant over the film Drive, asked to submit by the police.
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Dharma Productions CEO summoned
While most celebrities called for questioning had been spotted at the Bandra police station, Apoorva Mehta was snapped by the cameras outside the Amboli police station. Wearing a mask, he was seen with a bottle of water and what seemed like the contract copy in his hands. Mahesh Bhatt was questioned at the Santacruz police station a day earlier.
Mehta has been working with Dharma Productions for close to 15 years.
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Drive was the only collaboration between Sushant and the banner. The movie had been announced in 2017, but faced numerous delays, before it finally released on Netflix last November. Kangana Ranaut had poured doubt over Drive's alleged inability to find a buyer and the blame for this being directed towards Sushant.
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Karan Johar’s manager has also been summoned in the case, and sources claim even the filmmaker will be summoned in the case within a week.
Earlier, even Yash Raj Films was asked to submit its contract copy with Sushant, as they collaborated on two films out of an alleged three-film contract. The banner’s casting director Shanoo Sharma and former employee Aashish Singh too were questioned in the case. The Mumbai Police is investigating the angle of Sushant allegedly being ousted from numerous films and being boycotted by the big names, before his death on June 14.
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Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mahesh Bhatt, Shekhar Kapur too have recorded their statements in the case, with over 35 names having been questioned in the case.
Demand for CBI probe
Meanwhile, Dr Subramanian Swamy has written to the Prime Minister seeking a CBI probe into Sushant’s death, after numerous politicians like Roopa Ganguly, Manoj Tiwari also voiced a similar demand. On Monday, a PIL too was filed in the Bombay High Court, demanding a high-level probe into the matter, claiming Karan had ‘insulted’ Sushant and that the Mumbai Police had covered ‘facts’. The Mumbai Police, on the other hand, claimed that the death, that took place at Sushant’s residence in Bandra on June 14, was of ‘asphyxia due to hanging’, while the post-mortem and viscera reports have also ruled out foul play.
12:47 IST, July 28th 2020