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Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Showik Chakraborty, brother of actor Rhea Chakraborty, for approximately 18 hours in connection with a money laundering case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said Sunday.
Showik left the Central Investigative Agency’s office here in the Ballard Estate area around 6:30 a.m. after an overnight interrogation session that began around noon Saturday.
Officials said Showik’s statement was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was questioned about his personal activities, income, investments and financial relationships with his sister and Rajput.
He was grilled by the agency for a few hours on August 7 as well. On the same day, her sister and main defendant in the Rhea case (28) was interviewed by the agency for the first time for about eight hours.
Rhea and her father Indrajit Chakraborty were summoned to the agency again on Monday.
On Friday, the ED had interviewed Indrajit, Rhea Ritesh Shah’s chartered accountant (CA) and business manager Shruti Modi, who also worked for Rajput.
The agency reportedly interviewed Rhea, who said in her court petition that she was in a relationship with Rajput, about her friendship with the late actor, business dealings and developments that have taken place over the past few years. years. between them.
The ED’s series of questions, officials said, revolves around Rhea’s income, investments, business and professional agreements and ties.
Also under ED’s scanner is a property located in the Khar district of the city and another in Navi Mumbai, both linked to Rhea, for purchase and property source.
Agency sources said they “want more answers” from Rhea about the alleged mismatch between her income, expenses and investments.
They said that although Chakraborty filed tax returns showing an income of around Rs 14 lakh, the value of his investments would be higher.
Read also : The Indians find the perfect villain in Rhea Chakraborty. That says more about India than about her
His father, they said, is a retired defense personnel who draws a pension of around Rs 1 lakh per month.
The sources said Rhea told the agency that she made the property investments from her income, savings and took out bank loans.
Rhea was accused by Rajput’s father of encouraging his son’s suicide and she initially refused to appear before the agency citing her pending Supreme Court appeal which is due to be heard on August 11.
Her lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, had said Rhea was a law-abiding citizen and would cooperate with the investigation.
She filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking that the case filed by the Bihar Police against her be transferred to the Mumbai Police.
She, through her lawyer, also shared a photo on Saturday of a note which she says was written by Rajput to express his gratitude to her and her family.
Rhea also shared a photo of a sip of water, which is movie merchandise from Rajput’s 2019 film “Chhichhore”.
“The only Sushant property I own,” she said in a message sent with the photo to the media.
The ED, during the interrogation sessions, learns to have confronted Rhea, Showik and Modi with some bank statements which allegedly show the transfer of small sums to Showik’s accounts from those of Rajput and Chakraborty.
The agency had also summoned Rajput’s friend and roommate Siddharth Pithani on Saturday in connection with the money laundering case which stems from the actor’s father’s complaint to the Bihar Police in connection with his death.
Pithani, an IT professional, is currently believed to be out of Mumbai and may appear before the agency on Monday.
He has said in various news channel interviews that he was present at Bandra’s apartment on June 14 when the 34-year-old actor hanged himself.
Pithani, said to have been living with Rajput for about a year, had previously registered his statement with the Mumbai Police as part of their Accidental Death Report (ADR) investigation into the case.
Rajput’s 74-year-old father, KK Singh, who resides in Patna, had filed a complaint with Patna police on July 25 against Rhea, his parents (including mother Sandhya Chakraborty), Rajput’s manager Showik Samuel Miranda, Modi and unknowns accusing of having cheated and encouraging the suicide of his son.
The CBI had re-registered this FIR as a new case on Thursday and named the same people as accused.
Singh also alleged financial irregularities in his son’s bank accounts.
In the complaint, Singh alleged that Rs 15 crore had been diverted from Rajput’s bank account within a year to accounts of people unknown or related to the deceased actor.
Under the ED’s scanner are at least two companies linked to Rajput and some financial dealings involving Rhea, her father and Showik, who are believed to be directors of these companies.
Read also : Enraged by the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput? Students die in the IIT of Kota, the IAS factories too
