Drug charges against PM Modi biopic maker Sandip Ssingh to be probed

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday (August 30) said the applications received by him for a probe into alleged drug nexus in Bollywood will be forwarded to the CBI, which is probing actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case.

His response came after the BJP accused the Maharashtra government accused of “overlooking” charges of drug use in the actor’s death to protect the state’s ruling party.

Deshmukh said he will call for an investigation into the allegations against filmmaker Sandip Ssingh, best known for producing a biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2019 national elections, saying that he had received a lot of complaints about him.

“The memorandums received by me to probe the alleged drug nexus in Bollywood will be given to the CBI for further action,” the home minister told reporters.

When asked about the BJP’s allegation that Mumbai Police had overlooked the drug angle when they were probing the case, the home minister said, “(BJP) leaders have good relations with Bollywood. What did they (BJP) do when that party was in power in the state in the last five years?”

The Congress too had on Friday sought a probe in the “BJP angle” in the Sushant Singh Rajput case.

Amid allegations against the Maharashtra government that it was trying to scuttle the probe into Sushant Singh’s death, state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant claimed that the CBI was going to question Sandip Ssingh over charges involving drugs.

“There is a definite BJP angle to it. CBI will investigate producer of PM Modi”s biopic in drug dealing. This is very serious… Is that why there was a hurry to bring in CBI into the probe. When there are several top producers in Bollywood, why was Sandip Ssingh chosen to helm the project?” Sawant said.

“The Chief Minister, Home Minister should probe the nexus between Bollywood, drugs and BJP… The links between BJP and Bollywood is well known. Was the demand for CBI pursued to save somebody? Maharashtra government should probe this angle,” NDTV quoted him as saying.

The 34-year-old actor was found hanging on June 14 in his flat in suburban Bandra.

The Supreme Court recently upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged by Rajput’s father in Patna against Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting his son’s suicide and misappropriating his money, to the CBI.

The CBI is currently interrogating Rajput’s girlfriend and actress Rhea Chakraborty who has been booked on the charge of abetting his suicide. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing the case against Chakraborty.

A three-member team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from Delhi arrived at Mumbai on Thursday to probe the drugs angle in the case.

On Wednesday, the NCB too registered an FIR against Chakraborty and others.