Sushant death case: Drug peddler known to Rhea's brother nabbed

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested another drug peddler, Kaizan Ebrahim aka Jaison, who was believed to have been in touch with Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik Chakraborty.

The NCB is in possession of several WhatsApp messages exchanged between Showik and a few drug peddlers operating in the Bandra-Juhu region in Mumbai. Kaizan Ebrahim aka Jaison, the peddler nabbed today (September 3) was in contact with Basit Parihar, who was arrested recently. According to NCB, Parihar and Suryadeep Malhotra have connections with Showik Chakraborty.

Parihar and another drug peddler Zaid Vilatra were arrested by the NCB recently, taking the total arrests of drug peddlers in the case so far to five, two of whom are out on bail.

Samuel Miranda, Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager, had allegedly spoken to Zaid on Showik Chakraborty’s instructions. Zaid told NCB during interrogations that he knew Showik and Samuel Miranda. Zaid also said that he was paid Rs 10,000 in cash on March 17 after which he handed over 5g of drugs to two men who had come to collect it. NCB has verified the location analysis data which proves that Zaid and Samuel Miranda were in the same location at the time of last call.

Meanwhile, India Today has accessed a new set of WhatsApp chats between Showik Chakraborty and an alleged drug peddler. In the chats, Showik is seen talking about procuring drugs. The chats also mention Zaid Vilatra and suggest that Showik had put some other people in touch with the said drug dealer.

Related news: Of Rhea’s claim: Sushant’s sister told police that actor was ‘feeling low’

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled hotelier Gaurav Arya, who was also allegedly involved in selling drugs to Rhea Chakraborty, on August 31. Arya has denied charges of selling drugs to Rhea Chakraborty. He admitted that he met Rhea in Goa in 2017, and during a casual chat Rhea mentioned drugs, but he did not entertain her.

The ED has also grilled Showik in this case and has summoned him again today (September 3).

Meanwhile, the NCB is believed to have got substantial leads in the case to conclude that Bollywood has a widely-prevalent drug culture.

‘Drug culture prevalent in Bollywood’

ThePrint quoted sources in the NCB to state that a “high percentage” of “B-Town celebrities and aspirants allegedly procure and consume bud”, a curated form of marijuana sold for as high as Rs 5,000/gram.

The Bud is known by the name ‘cocaine’ and is not bought through drug peddlers. The buyer needs to use cryptocurrency to procure the priced contraband.

The NCB has arrested four alleged dealers — Abbas Lakhani, Karn Arora, Zaid Vilatra and Abdul Basit. So

far the NCB has been able to say with conviction that drug was being sourced and procured by many celebrities, including Rhea and her brother Showik Chakraborty.