Published 22:33 IST, September 6th 2020
NCB probe timeline: From conducting raids to arresting Showik Chakraborty & summoning Rhea
From conducting raids at the houses of prime accused including Rhea Chakraborty, to making nearly 8 arrests in less than a week, here's the full timeline
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Over the last 3 days, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has made several breakthroughs as they try to unearth the underlying drug cartel in Mumbai along the lines of the wider probe into Sushant Singh Rajput's death. From conducting a series of raids at the houses of prime accused including Rhea Chakraborty, to making nearly 8 arrests in less than a week, here's a timeline of NCB's probe into the case.
NCB gets custody of alleged drug dealers
In explosive WhatsApp chats accessed by Republic TV between Showik and a friend from October 2019, Showik admitted that he knew drug dealers — Zaid Vilatra and Abdul Basit Parihar. He also names drug dealers like Karamjeet, Raj, and Suryadeep in the chats. The NCB was on Thursday granted custody of both Zaid and Basit till September 9. Apart from the two, and a third suspect, two others were also apprehended, making it a total of 5.
Rhea & Samuel Miranda's houses raided
On Friday, the NCB raided Rhea Chakraborty's residence based on the mountain of evidence that surfaced following her Whatsapp chats with alleged drug dealers in the city. Chats from Rhea's Whatsapp group with brother Showik, Samuel Miranda, Dipesh Sawant where she was seen discussing 'buds' amongst other drugs with the group members, were accessed.
Shortly after, sources informed Republic that the role of Rhea's brother Showik and his purported links with the people nabbed by the NCB is under the scanner of the agency. NCB sources added that Showik had sought the purchase of 5 grams of drugs for Rs 10,000 via Samuel Miranda and cell tower data showed Miranda being within 125m of the drug dealer consequent to this.
Shortly after raiding Rhea's house, NCB raided Samuel Miranda's residence. Samuel Miranda was immediately taken into custody by the NCB team after his house was raided. Notably, Showik was issued a summon to join the investigation on Saturday.
Showik and Samuel Miranda arrested
On Saturday, Showik Chakraborty at the NCB's office allegedly confessed that he had procured drugs on the instructions of his sister - Rhea Chakraborty. Moreover, Showik claimed that Rhea had asked him and Sushant's ex-house manager Samuel Miranda to procure drugs, adding that he was in contact with several other drug peddlers.
Following his confession, the NCB arrested both Showik Chakraborty and Samuel Miranda. A Mumbai court gave the custody of both to the NCB till September 9. Thereafter, the NCB immediately issued a summon to Rhea Chakraborty by late evening on Saturday itself.
At 10 pm in the night, Sushant Singh Rajput’s staff Dipesh Sawant was arrested by the NCB following further inputs and he allegedly underwent a night of grilling.
Rhea arrives for questioning
On Sunday morning, Rhea Chakraborty arrived at the NCB's office in Mumbai's Ballad Pier to undergo questioning. Rhea Chakraborty chose to join NCB's investigation but sought Mumbai Police's protection. Amid heavy Police presence and two Mumbai Police vehicle escorting her from her Juhu residence, she reached NCB office at noon.
On the other hand, Dipesh Sawant was produced before a Mumbai court that granted his custody to the NCB till September 9. Rhea's questioning is still underway.
Meanwhile, as per sources, two teams of the NCB are currently conducting raids in Bandra and Santacruz, looking for certain drug dealers mentioned by Showik during his interrogation. The agency has a list of 28.
Rhea to be summoned again
After being grilled for 6 hours by the NCB, Rhea Chakraborty has been summoned again by the bureau for her statement on 7th September. NCB refused to share more details of the ongoing investigation with reporters outside the agency's office.
17:31 IST, September 6th 2020