However, the scene now finally seems all set for the denouement, with the forensic team of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) having submitted its report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The team submitted its analysis of the post-mortem, autopsy and viscera reports, along with other photographic evidence gathered by the Mumbai police during their investigation. The CBI has confirmed that the AIIMS team has submitted their ‘conclusive findings’ , which will be reviewed before the federal agency concludes whether Rajput’s death was a suicide or a murder.
Many angles and conspiracy theories emerged over the last few months since Sushant died. Amidst the genuine shock, dismay and outpouring of emotion, the several unlikely twists this case has taken have left most people despairing and disbelieving. Suicide turned to murder, to pre-meditated politicised slaughter, to connections to drug cartels, taking in its long tail some of the mightiest of the film industry. The NCB joined the probe that had been handed over to the CBI amidst much fanfare. The anti-drugs agency has since taken Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty among many others into custody.
Images of a stunned Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor entering the NCB portal over ‘maal’ charges and leaving minus their lifeline cellphones held television audiences captive for several days.
As the CBI, NCB and the ED continue to investigate ‘all angles’ in this death case, the late actor’s family and fans have continued their relentless campaign demanding speedy justice.
Where are we really with this case? How will it pan out and when will all this end? Even as we ask these questions daily, let us take a look at the timeline of how events unfolded since SSR’s death to understand the whole picture since that tragic Sunday!
Jun 14: Sushant Singh Rajput found dead in Mumbai home
Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging from the ceiling of his Bandra apartment in Mumbai. The actor’s body was taken to Cooper Hospital for post-mortem.
The Mumbai Police later registered a case of ‘accidental death’. The last rites of the actor were performed on June 15, in the presence of his family and a few close friends.
Jun 18: Rhea Chakraborty records her statement before Mumbai Police
The Mumbai Police began their probe, conducting preliminary inquiries and recording the statements of over a dozen people, including Sushant’s father, his sisters, close friend Mahesh Chhabra and even Rhea Chakraborty. The actress was grilled by the police for about 9 hours.
Jun 25: Sushant Singh Rajput’s final post-mortem report submitted
Rajput’s detailed post-mortem report recorded “asphyxia due to hanging” as the cause of death. The report also ruled out foul play, citing no signs of struggle or external injuries and stated ‘nothing was found under his fingernails’.
Jun 27: Viscera report reveals no traces of chemicals or poisons
Sushant Singh Rajput’s viscera analysis conducted by the Kalina Forensic Lab dismissed any foul play in the actor’s death. The report ruled out the presence of any ‘suspicious chemicals or poisons’ in the actor’s system at the time of his death.
ALSO READ: 11 Unanswered questions in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case
Jul 25: Rajput’s father KK Singh lodges an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty
Sushant Singh Rajput’s father KK Singh filed an FIR at the Rajiv Nagar Police station, Patna against Rhea Chakraborty, Indrajit Chakraborty, Sandhya Chakraborty, Showik Chakraborty, Samuel Miranda and Shruti Modi. The FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code sections of 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating & dishonestly inducing delivery of property).
Jul 29: Rhea moves SC seeking transfer of FIR from Patna to Mumbai
Rhea Chakraborty filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the Patna FIR in the Sushant Singh Rajput case to Mumbai, citing that the Bihar Police had ‘no jurisdiction’ to enquire into the case.
Jul 31: ED files money laundering case against accused
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case against Rhea Chakraborty and the other 5 accused. The agency began their probe into alleged mishandling of funds and scrutinised bank statements to ascertain any financial irregularities or purchases of illegal assets.
ALSO READ| Five statements by Sushant Singh Rajput’s father’s lawyer Vikas Singh
Aug 2: Bihar IPS officer Vinay Tiwari put under quarantine in Mumbai
A Special Investigation Team from Patna Police arrived in Mumbai city to conduct their probe into the death of the actor, following the FIR filed in Patna. However, their investigations hit a roadblock after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) put IPS officer Vinay Tiwari under quarantine.
Aug 6: CBI lodges an FIR in case
After the Centre accepted the Bihar government’s request for a CBI inquiry, the central agency filed an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty, Indrajit Chakraborty, Sandhya Chakraborty, Showik Chakraborty, Samuel Miranda, Shruti Modi, and others in connection with the case. However, the team waited for directions from the Supreme Court to formally begin their probe.
Aug 19: Supreme Court upholds transfer of the Patna FIR to the CBI
The Supreme Court of India passed the order to uphold the transfer of the Patna Police’s FIR to the CBI. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy put an end to the jurisdictional tussle between the Bihar Police and the Mumbai Police by transferring the case to the CBI.
Aug 20: CBI team arrives in Mumbai to begin probe
A CBI team arrived in Mumbai to initiate the probe. While some of them collected evidence and other case-related material from the Mumbai Police, others began recording statements of people involved in the case and a third group visited Sushant’s residence to re-create the crime scene.
Aug 22: AIIMS Forensic team roped in by CBI
A team of AIIMS’ forensic department was roped in by the CBI to give medico-legal opinion into the death of the actor. The team led by Dr Sudhir Gupta recreated the scene of the incident, collected samples from the flat and even lent their expertise to analyse the late actor’s autopsy report and viscera report.
Aug 25: ED unearths alleged drug angle in SSR death case
While investigating phone record data in the money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate unearthed an alleged drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput death probe. According to reports, certain WhatsApp chats between Rhea Chakraborty and talent manager Jaya Saha, discussing ‘hard drugs’ came to light during the investigation.
Aug 26: NCB joins the probe
Following the alleged ‘drug chats’ that surfaced in the ED’s investigations, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) joined the probe. The agency registered an offence against Rhea Chakraborty under section 20, 22, 27 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. These NDPS sections pertain to the consumption of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances and abetment and criminal conspiracy.
Sept 4:
NCB takes Samuel Miranda and Showik Chakraborty in custody in drugs case
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), took Showik Chakraborty and Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager Samuel Miranda in their custody for further interrogation in the drug case. The two were arrested after the agency allegedly got “adequate evidence” to prove their involvement in an alleged ‘drug syndicate’.
Sept 7: Rhea files FIR against Sushant’s sisters and Dr Tarun Kumar, Mumbai police transfers it to CBI
Rhea Chakraborty filed an FIR against Sushant’s sisters Priyanka Singh, Meetu Singh, Dr Tarun Kumar of Ram Manohar Lohiya hospital and others. She claimed that the accused hatched a conspiracy and obtained a false prescription containing banned medicines and annexed the same without supervising dose and quantity which may have resulted into a chronic anxiety attack and resulted in Rajput’s suicide. The Mumbai police filed an FIR under IPC 306- abetment to suicide, IPC 420- cheating, IPC 464- making a false document, IPC 465- punishment for forgery, IPC 466- forgery of record of court or public register.
On the directions of the Supreme Court’s order, the police transferred the case to CBI.
ALSO READ| Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Rhea Chakraborty’s side of the story
Sept 8: NCB takes Rhea Chakraborty under judicial custody in drug case
Rhea Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act’s sections 8(c) (sale, possession or manufacture of banned drugs), 20(b)(ii)(possession or use of a small quantity of banned drugs) and other relevant provisions. The arrest came after a 3-day interrogation by the central agency. The NCB produced Chakraborty before a magistrate’s court, where she was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
October 3: AIIMS dismisses theories of murder
AIIMS panel, in its report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), ruled out the theories of poisoning and strangling floated by Sushant Singh Rajput’s family and lawyer. The CBI will now be probing into the original charge of ‘abetment to suicide’ that was listed by the Bihar police.
We spoke to senior lawyers to give us a sense of where they see the case going and their personal perspective on the case.
All depends on the CBI report
Senior lawyer Rizwan Merchant says, “It all depends on the final report of CBI. They haven’t released or shared any progress in investigations with the court, and therefore it is neither possible nor fair to speculate. Reports being claimed to have been shared with selective media channels and flashed on the public domain are consequently thoroughly unreliable.”
As of today, it remains a case of suicide
Legal expert Majeed Memom says, “Initially, those who stood with Sushant’s family alleged that Mumbai police were not investigating the case satisfactorily and were trying to shield some important people. Allegations of similar nature were also hurled at Aghadi Govt. The whole episode became a political battlefield when Bihar DGP and Bihar police registered another CR and started a parallel investigation. Through SC the order of handing over the investigation to CBI was obtained and CBI took over the case. CBI has been working on it for over a month now but to date not required evidence has surfaced to term the case as ‘homicidal death’. As of today, it remains a case of suicide. Now the deceased family has lost faith in CBI too. The cause of concern is the overplay of the whole case by media and pro and anti-Sushant camp. In any case, everyone is anxious to know the whole truth in the matter without any further delay.”
This is a case of circumstantial evidence
Hitesh Jain says, “We should get some idea about the investigation once there is some word from AIIMS as regards the post-mortem report. AIIMS report will indicate and throw some light on the cause of death. This is a case of circumstantial evidence and CBI has to establish the chain of events
Process of law should not be used to serve vested interests
Abha Singh says, “CBI has not come up with anything substantial in more than 40 days. Sushant’s case was a case of Suicide and to say it’s murder is too far fetched. ED could find no money trail to Rhea Chakraborty’s account as was alleged by Sushant’s father in the FIR registered in Bihar. False narratives run by Channels for TRP has clearly shown than TV is no longer to be relied upon to know the truth. Till Bihar elections, the case will drag on. CBI will disclose its findings after that. Why Sushant’s family made such accusations on Rhea need to be investigated in real earnest. The process of law should not be used to serve vested interests.”
She went on to add, “The NCB was set up with a mandate to check international drug movement, big syndicates but it’s going after small-time users with no recovery but only on WhatsApp chats put the agency in very bad light.”
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