Sushant Singh Rajput's friend absconding after NCB summons him
What's the story
In a fresh development in the ongoing drugs case related to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, his friend Rishikesh Pawar is currently absconding, reports said on Friday.
Pawar, an assistant director, has been untraceable since the Narcotics Control Bureau summoned him for questioning.
The anti-drug agency has since launched a search for Pawar.
Here are more details on this.
Details
Pawar was questioned by the NCB in September last year
Pawar was grilled by the NCB in September 2020 after being named by the accused Dipesh Sawant as one of the persons supplying drugs to the late actor.
Based on Sawant's claims, Pawar's house was raided by the NCB at that time.
Pawar had earlier approached the Mumbai sessions court seeking anticipatory bail in the matter.
However, his application was rejected.
Quote
He was non co-operative, which strengthened our suspicion: NCB
"We wanted to question him about the drugs angle from the very beginning but he was non co-operative and had refused to come in for questioning despite being issued summons. This further strengthened our suspicion about his role in the case," said an NCB official.
Drug probe
NCB started the drug probe after Rajput's demise
After the tragic death of Rajput on June 14, 2020, the top anti-drug agency of the country launched a probe into allegations of drug abuse in Bollywood.
NCB has thus far questioned several popular actors including Deepika Padukone and Arjun Rampal over accusation of their drug links.
Actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother were also arrested by the agency in September 2020.
NCB
Other celebrities who were summoned by the NCB
Last year, many celebrities came under the radar of the NCB and were questioned by the agency.
After another investigating agency found certain "drug chats," film actors Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh, Shraddha Kapoor and others were named in the case.
Earlier this week, Rampal's sister Komal Rampal was also called for questioning by the anti-drug agency.