New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a closure report in the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide, Press Trust of India reported quoted citing officials.
Officials said that the CBI has submitted its findings to a special court in Mumbai, which will decide whether to accept the findings or order a further probe, the report said.
Rajput, 34, who made his silver screen debut in the critically acclaimed Kai Po Che in 2013, was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14, 2020.
His death was ruled as a suicide by the Mumbai Police, before the case was taken over by the CBI. The investigating agency also took over the probe by the Bihar Police into the abetment to suicide case filed by the actor’s father K.K. Singh in Patna against Rajput’s partner Rhea Chakraborty and her family.
In September 2020, Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The NCB began its probe after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) – which was investigating allegations of money laundering against the actor – shared with it a report, after it cloned two mobile phones belonging to Chakraborty, and arrived at the conclusion that her private conversations suggested that she was involved in the procurement, transaction and consumption of banned drugs. She was granted bail by the Bombay high court almost a month after her arrest.
Rajput’s father had also alleged that Chakraborty, along with her family members, misappropriated his son’s money. She had denied the charge in television interviews. Chakraborty was hounded by the media and vilified in a media trial and unending sensational coverage.
In October 2020, the AIIMS medical board on ruled out murder “completely”, terming his death “a case of hanging and death by suicide”. In its conclusive medico-legal opinion to the CBI, the six-member team of forensic doctors had dismissed the claims that “poisoning and strangling” may have been the cause of Singh’s death.
Following his death, Rajput’s name was kept in the public eye ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, including by chief minister Nitish Kumar, who also heads the Janata Dal (United), who had raked up his name in a virtual political rally while his coalition partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too had incorporated Singh’s images in their campaigns.
If you know someone – a friend or a family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of phone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. The TeleManas helpline, a government helpline, functions 24×7; its number is 1-800 891 4416 or 14416. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.
