Justice For Sushant Singh Rajput: Here's the definitive timeline from his death on June 14

As Republic Media Network has been relentless in its investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput's mysterious demise, uncovering various facets from before and after his death, the #CBIForSSR campaign by Republic has also garnered over 3 million responses and 1.5 million signatures on the related petition. Here is the definitive timeline of the series of events right from the mysterious death of the actor till the eve of the Supreme Court's verdict on whether the CBI will probe the case, over Rhea Chakraborty's plea seeking transfer of the case from Patna to Mumbai.. 

FROM DEATH TILL SUPREME COURT HEARING

It's been over two months now since the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, and yet, events surrounding it appear as shocking now as they were on that morning of June 14.

When news first came in that he had been found dead at his Bandra apartment, it was immediately cited as an apparent suicide, and while no note was found, authorities were quick to rule out foul play.

Condolences ensued. The family came down from Patna even as people flocked to his home there, and he was cremated at the Vile Parle crematorium. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, only a select few people were present including some of his industry peers.

Back in Bihar, the youth appeared to not be content with the suicide-following-depression hypothesis, and yet, that was the word that was doing the rounds. Somehow, the actor who had portrayed MS Dhoni in the former Cricket captain's biopic, one who was in the consideration set for actors who could headline a film, was portrayed as having a downturn in fortunes. An immediate parallel response from at least one corner was to play up the seriousness of the mental illness.

NOT CONTENT WITH 'DEPRESSION THEORY', CALLS FOR PROBE MADE

However, even then, questions were raised in exploratory terms, alleging that things don't add up and some even said a CBI inquiry must be held. 

Above all, people remembered the actor - that he had been bright and multi-talented. That he had been academically inclined and brilliant, with an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Physics, Philosophy, Art, Space and Mathematics. His bucket list was dug up from his social media, and so were his self-musings.

MAHA GOVT ANNOUNCES PROBE; KANGANA ALLEGES NEPOTISM WAS AT PLAY

Through this, even as the people closest to him maintained a stoic silence, there was enough incredulity doing the rounds that the Maharashtra government came out and said it would probe the circumstances of his death. In Bollywood, Kangana Ranaut was among the first to depict mistreatment at the industry's self-appointed custodians' hands, alleging nepotism and powerfully bringing to light what Sushant had represented as a so-called outsider. She debunked the suicide, even as the post-mortem allegedly determined asphyxiation due to hanging. This would hardly be Kangana's last word.

EARLY JULY: FILM FRATERNITY MEMBERS & SUSHANT'S CO-WORKERS SUMMONED

Over the next few days and weeks, the Mumbai Police went about starting to summon people who had worked with him and had been close to him. The director of his last yet-to-release film 'Dil Bechara...' Mukesh Chhabra, and Sushant's rumoured girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty were some of the people called into Bandra police station. Later, ace Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali had his statement taken, and is believed to have spoken about Sushant not being able to star in his films despite being approached four times. 

JULY 18: #KanganaSpeaksToArnab; THROWS CASE WIDE OPEN ON REPUBLIC

It was all idle chatter and the inquiry appeared consigned to prove academic, however, until something happened. Appearing on an explosive interview with Arnab Goswami on Nation Wants To Know, Kangana Ranaut boldly put forth that she believed that Sushant had been murdered, since his suicide had been abetted by persons in the Bollywood cabal whom Kangana claimed had systematically boycotted him.

She called the Mumbai Police's investigation so far a 'total sham' as three big filmmakers and a critic whom Kangana said should have been summoned, weren't. 

The claims exploded, setting social media alight. Left with no choice, the Mumbai police began calling the big directors in, and also appeared interested in summoning Kangana Ranaut who was at that time not in Mumbai. Subramanian Swamy and Ishkaran Bhandari threw their help behind Kangana. 

JUNE 14 & 16: RHEA CHAKRABORTY BREAKS SILENCE; SEEKS CBI PROBE

With more and more questions and a potential line of inquiry coming out, the calls for a CBI inquiry again surfaced. Subterranean as they were then, they appeared to beget a response from none other than Rhea Chakraborty. 

Rhea simultaneously spoke up on Sushant's death as well as the questions that had been raised over her silence in the matter. A month after his demise, she openly accepted being his girlfriend and even appealed to the Prime Minister and Home Minister for a CBI probe.

MEANWHILE, IN PATNA: SUSHANT'S FAMILY MULLS ITS ACTION

What she meant by this open appeal, however, is yet unknown because of events that were beginning to take shape at Sushant's hometown Patna. At about the same time, a month after the tragedy, Sushant's grieving father was photographed offering a prayer for his only son, the youngest sibling to four sisters.

While Mumbai police questioned filmmakers and their aides - almost 40 people in all - and production bigwigs recorded statements claiming how they hadn't been unfair with Sushant and it was scheduling conflicts to blame rather than any boycott, in Patna, more concrete action was afoot. Around this time, on July 25, Sushant Singh Rajput's final film Dil Bechara also released, becoming the biggest OTT release in Bollywood's history.

JULY 28: SUSHANT CASE EXPLODES; FATHER NAMES RHEA AS ACCUSED IN FIR

It happened late in the afternoon on July 28. Sushant Singh Rajput's father KK Singh made a complaint, and over a month and a half after Sushant's death, an FIR was lodged by the Bihar police. The FIR was stunning. It accused Rhea Chakraborty and members of her family, among others, of abetting Sushant's suicide, of embezzling his wealth, of over-medicating him in the guise of depression, of cutting him off from his family, of taking professional decisions on his behalf, and of leaving him when he was at his most vulnerable, just a week before his death.

The charges were grave and yet quite specific. Sushant's fans, in their tens of thousands, joined in hailing his family for their brave step of pushing for an inquiry into what had really happened. And the Bihar police stepped into action.

JULY 29: BIHAR POLICE REACHES MUMBAI; BEGINS ITS PROBE

A 4-man team quickly arrived in Mumbai, started speaking to people and going about inquiring into his bank accounts and medical history. Meanwhile, Republic's Special Investigations Team accessed records of some of his most recent transactions, and this painted a quite stunning picture. 

It emerged that Sushant's expenses for not only Rhea but also her brother had been quite extravagant and that his balance in that particular account had fallen by almost Rs 3 crore in a space of months before his death.

AUGUST 1: RHEA CHAKRABORTY BREAKS SILENCE; ANKITA SPEAKS TO ARNAB

With more and more facts coming to light, Rhea Chakraborty finally broke her silence. In a 20 second video from an undisclosed location, a visibly sobbing Rhea said that truth would prevail and that many horrible things had been said about her but didn't address any of the allegations in the FIR. She took a curious step - to move the Supreme Court of India with a plea to transfer the case registered in Bihar to Mumbai, such that it would be investigated by the Mumbai police.

Ankita Lokhande who had been Sushant's TV co-star and later his girlfriend spoke to Arnab on another blockbuster edition of Nation wants to know and completely dismissed the possibility of Sushant committing suicide, highlighting his positivity and aspirations.

AUGUST 2: REPUBLIC TRACKS SUSHANT'S ROOMMATES; ED ENTERS FRAY 

While Bihar police travelled around Mumbai in auto rickshaws, given the money angle and huge figures being spoken of, the Enforcement Directorate took an interest in the case, with sources accurately telling Republic that the central agency would be lodge a case as they did a few days later under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Republic's team, meanwhile, went about tracking down testimonies and persons who had been close - in terms of proximity or as friends - of Sushant Singh Rajput

His so-called 'close friend' Sandip Ssingh appeared on The Debate with Arnab and recounted being among the first to arrive there after his death. The ceiling in Sushant's room being too low for hanging was also spoken about.

Republic spoke to Sushant's former bodyguard who confirmed that Rhea had over time removed the actor's staff, and claimed that she used to make him purchase medicines for Sushant. His gym trainer, also spoken to by Republic, added to questions about Rhea serving as a proxy for Sushant's medical matters.

Sushant's family friend Smita also made intriguing revelations on the debate. Then Siddharth Pithani burst into the mix. He was Sushant's employee and housemate, who claimed he and not Rhea used to administer medicines to Sushant. His appearance from Hyderabad with Arnab on Republic raised a lot of questions.

AUGUST 3-4: BIHAR POLICE'S PROBE HAMPERED; SUSPICIONS OVER DISHA'S DEATH

Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing Rhea Chakraborty's plea, her petition accessed by Republic, put forth that she had loved Sushant, had been in a live-in relationship with him till a week before his death - June 8 to be specific - when she 'temporarily' left to go back to her own house.

A possible connection that appeared at this time was an alleged but not spoken about enough link to the alleged suicide of Sushant's manager, 28-year-old Disha Salian by jumping from the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad, just a week before Sushant's own alleged suicide.

It was claimed in the FIR that Sushant had feared he'd somehow be implicated in Disha's death, and in response to this, the Bihar police attempted to track down Disha's death files. However, while they were at the police station in Mumbai, the files happened to be accidentally deleted. This was the beginning of the end of the Bihar police's probe. Even as the force sent a senior IPS officer to lead the investigation, he was quarantined in Mumbai on his arrival, in what was termed in Bihar as 'house arrest'.

By this time, the demand for a CBI inquiry had taken far more concrete shape, and even as the Maharashtra government and Mumbai police put up a show of having a handle on the investigation, the Police Commissioner's selective and planned press conference and the very public meandering of their probe exposed them.

AUGUST 5: BIHAR GOVT SEEKS CBI PROBE; SUPREME COURT HEARS RHEA'S PLEA

In a massive development before the Supreme Court's hearing, however, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, speaking to Republic, confirmed that his administration had recommended the transfer of the case from their hands to the CBI.

In the Supreme Court, the Bihar government, Sushant's family and the Maharashtra government all convened to make their arguments after filing caveats to also be heard. Surprisingly, however, it was the Centre that opened proceedings with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta confirming that the Centre had permitted the Bihar government's request for a central agency probe. Sushant's family at this point also alleged that the Mumbai Police was destroying evidence under political pressure, with the Supreme Court bench ordering the Maharashtra government to submit findings of their Sushant death probe.

REPUBLIC SPEAKS TO SUSHANT'S STAFF; INCONSISTENCIES TUMBLE OUT

Meanwhile, Republic's SIT went on about piecing together the final few hours on that fateful day. Sushant's cook who had been present then narrated how the door had been opened that day by a locksmith Siddharth Pithani had called but not let him enter the room, instead of having him escorted out and paid Rs 2000. The presence of two ambulances at the spot, along with the decision to take the body to Cooper Hospital rather than the hospital that protocol dictated raised even more inconsistencies.

As politics broke out over who has jurisdiction to transfer the case, with the Shiv Sena going hammer and tongs to impute ulterior motives, politicians also began to spontaneously issue statements clarifying any involvement.

AUGUST 6 & 7: CBI REGISTERS FIR; RHEA APPEARS FOR ED QUESTIONING

Even as the investigation into the FIR remained in deadlock, the ED's probe picked up speed. Rhea Chakraborty was herself summoned, making her first appearance since being named as an accused. As did her brother and later her father, along with members of Sushant's team and circle that Republic had learned about independently as part of the SIT investigation. Pithani would eventually be called in from Hyderabad, while details of call records accessed by Republic would poke holes in Rhea Chakraborty's claims.

As per ED sources, Rhea Chakraborty has had tremendous trouble explaining her sources of income in proportion to her assets, while in the latest expose on Republic, the alleged removal of her company's website has also raised questions on whether speculated evidence in the form of emails were deleted.

AUGUST 11: SENA ATTACKS SUSHANT'S KIN; RHEA ADAMANT ON MUMBAI POLICE

When the Supreme Court took up the case for hearing again, it had been gloves off for the two states involved. While Sanjay Raut had been dispatched to New Delhi, where he launched an attack on Sushant's family, Maharashtra government echoed him in alleging political motive to the Bihar police's probe. The Bihar government and Sushant's family countered this strongly, alleging that the political motive was at Maharashtra's end. 

Rhea Chakraborty, who in her affidavit to the Supreme Court had been adamant in having the Mumbai police conduct the investigation, was called out for her shift in stance from earlier having demanded a CBI probe.

AUGUST 12-14: #CBIForSSR BECOMES GLOBAL MOVEMENT; BOLLYWOOD STARTS JOINING

As matters reached ahead, the call for a CBI probe reached a crescendo. Millions joined up on Republic's #CBIForSSR campaign, starting with Sushant's sister as well as Kangana Ranaut, and also later his peers like Ankita Lokhande, Kriti Sanon, Varun Dhawan, Mouni Roy and many more. 

Republic's probe into the Disha Salian death also threw up voluntary mentions of Rhea Chakraborty and confirmation of suspicions that the death hadn't been appropriately investigated.

AUGUST 14: SUICIDE THEORY IN TATTERS; INDIA WANTS #JusticeForSushant

Finally, Sushant's family hit back at Sanjay Raut and the Shiv Sena-NCP's vicious attacks at them and Sushant. These videos are said to show him how he was - not alienated from people who loved him, not suicidally depressed - rather the apple of his family's eye who was a symbol for countless youth who aspired to scale the heights of success.

AUGUST 18: RHEA TRIES LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT, ISSUES STATEMENT, SLANDERS SUSHANT'S FAMILY

As a last-ditch attempt, Rhea through her lawyer issued an elaborate statement falsifying the charges on her and slandered Sushant's family by coming up with her own allegations including rift in Sushant's relation with his sister, and also giving clarification on the U-Turn from seeking CBI Probe initially to appealing in the Supreme Court for retention of the case to Mumbai Police.

AUGUST 19: SUPREME COURT TO PRONOUNCE JUDGMENT

After hearing all the parties involved, the Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Wednesday, August 19 as to who will conduct the investigation going forward. Will there be #JusticeForSushant? Only time and your support will tell.