Top NCB officer tells team to first collect strong evidence, and then summon the celebrities for questioning; wants them to focus on peddlers
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh returned to the city from Goa last week. Pic/Ashish Rane
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is investigating a drugs angle in the case of the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has been instructed by top brass to focus on gathering strong evidence against celebrities before calling them in. SIT officials have also been asked to go after the drug peddlers and reveal the connection between celebrities and drugs.
After questioning Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor on September 27, no more celebrities have been called in for questioning. NCB Director General Rakesh Asthana had come to Mumbai and held a meeting with the investigating officers and took details of the investigation conducted so far. In the meeting, he clearly told the officers to give priority to collecting strong evidence against the accused.
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For the last two-and-a-half months, the ED and CBI have been investigating this case, but they have not yet found anything tangible. The NCB, which is investigating the drugs angle, has arrested 19 people, mostly drug peddlers. It has also arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty and Rhea's brother Showik Chakraborty.
An NCB official said, "Many celebrities are on our radar. We are conducting surveillance on some of their phones." So far, the NCB hasn't found anything directly related to Rajput's death.
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