Sushant Singh Rajput case: ED rejects Rhea Chakraborty's request, Siddharth Pithani to be quizzed next

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday rejected actress Rhea Chakraborty's request seeking postponement of her recording the statement till her Supreme Court plea hearing. 

According to sources, "the ED has asked Rhea Chakraborty to join the probe. Her request has been denied and no exemption given by ED."

In an email sent to the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday night, Rhea had urged the financial probe agency to defer its inquiry in the case since the matter is still pending in the court. In a statement, Rhea's counsel Satish Manshinde said: "Rhea Chakraborty has requested that the recording of her statement be postponed till Supreme Court hearing."

Also, it has been learnt from sources that ED will now quiz Sushant's friend Siddharth Pithani in Hyderabad on Saturday (August 8, 2020). 

The ED is likely to register Rhea Chakraborty's absence as non-compliance of summons. 

The Enforcement Directorate had registered a money laundering case against Rhea under Personal Money Laundering Act (PMLA) involving the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, a team of the financial probe agency reached the residence of Chartered Accountant Sandeep Sridhar and quizzed him a few days back.

Rhea's associate Samuel Miranda and her CA Ritesh Shah were also probed in relation to the death of the actor. The ED came into action after the case was registered by the ED against Rhea and her family members. It was over Rs 15 crore amount which was allegedly spent by Rhea. The sum was withdrawn from Sushant's account, reportedly. It was after Sushant's father KK Singh had filed an FIR against Rhea in Patna. The ED has named Rhea and her family members in the case on the basis of the Bihar Police FIR.

However, sources close to Rhea inform that the Khar property in question was purchased in 2018 way before she met Sushant Singh Rajput. The flat was purchased from her remuneration from her film Jalebi. The payment was made through her bank account to the builder.