New Delhi:
The CBI has taken over investigation into the actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case from the Bihar Police after re-registering an FIR of alleged criminal conspiracy and abetment to suicide against his rumoured girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, officials said Thursday.
The case will be probed by a special investigation team under Superintendent of Police Nupur Prasad and will be supervised by DIG Gagandeep Gambhir and Joint Director Manoj Shashidhar, both senior IPS officers from the Gujarat cadre, they said.
The agency acted swiftly on a reference from the government in Bihar, the home state of 34-year-old Rajput, where his family had lodged an FIR against Chakraborty, they said. The Patna police had registered the FIR under IPC sections related to alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and abetment to suicide, among others.
The case has gone to the CBI on a reference from the Bihar government which has been forwarded to the agency by the central government. A state government cannot give a case to the CBI. It is routed through the Department of Personnel and Training, the nodal ministry for the CBI.
Seeing anguish over the death of Rajput in Bihar, which goes to assembly polls later this year, the state referred the matter to the CBI even as the Mumbai Police is probing the main case related to alleged suicide of the 34-year old actor. The Maharashtra government has raised objection to the move as Bihar does not have jurisdiction to start a probe in a different state.
The Mumbai Police had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and an investigation is underway in the case. Till now, the police in Mumbai have recorded statements of 56 people, including Rajput’s sisters, Chakraborty and some other film personalities. The Mumbai police has recorded the statements of Bollywood directors like Aditya Chopra, Mahesh Bhatt and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Rajput, aged 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then the Mumbai Police has been probing the case keeping in mind various angles.
