NCB arrests Sushant Singh Rajput's personal staff Dipesh Sawant; Showik Chakraborty and Samuel Miranda in custody

As of now, the NCB has reportedly arrested six people.

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday (September 5, 2020) arrested Sushant Singh Rajput's personal staff Dipesh Sawant in connection with the drug probe related to late Bollywood actor's death.

"Dipesh Sawant has been arrested by NCB for his role in procuring and handling of drugs. He has been arrested based on statements and digital evidence. He will be produced before court tomorrow at 11 am. Cross-examination of arrested people underway,'' Deputy Director, Narcotics Control Bureau, was quoted as saying by ANI.

The news comes hours after the NCB was granted 4-day custody of Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik Chakraborty and Sushant's house manager Samuel Miranda by the Mumbai court. The duo was also arrested in link with the drug probe related to Sushant's death who was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. 

Showik and Samuel were arrested on Friday night under several sections of the NDPS Act, including 20(b), 28, 29, 27(A) after the raids at their respective residences in Mumbai.

According to sources, Showik has confessed to NCB that he used to buy drugs for the late 34-year actor at the behest of his sister Rhea, whereas, Samuel has also told NCB that he used to arrange drugs, named Budd, as per Showik's instructions for Sushant. The digital records of as many as 12 financial transactions between Samuel and Showik have evidently come out and apparently Rhea's credit card was also used for several transactions.

The NCB had registered a case on August 26 under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, naming Rhea, her brother, talent manager Jaya Saha, Sushant`s co-manager Shruti Modi, and Goa-based hotelier Gaurav Arya, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wrote to it about the drugs' angle.

This was followed by the disclosure of WhatsApp messages between Rhea and Shruti Modi, and Samuel's conversation with Sushant's friend and flatmate Siddharth Pithani.

According to PTI news agency, the NCB Deputy Director-General of the south-west region, Mutha Ashok Jain, told reporters that the agency will take this probe to its "logical conclusion" and added that the NCB's mandate is to 'look for the big fish' and investigate international and inter-state drugs transactions.

"Normally this is not part of our mandate but now that we are getting information...This case has given us an inkling of the network and the extent of the penetration," he said when asked if the agency has evidence on the drugs nexus in Bollywood or Hindi movie industry.

Earlier in the day, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team arrived at Sushant's Mont Blanc residence at Bandra which was accompanied by a team of AIIMS doctors, forensic team, Sushant's elder sister Meetu Singh, cook-caretaker Neeraj Singh, cook Keshav and Siddharth Pithani. 

According to sources, the central probe agency, which is investigating Sushant's death case, recreated the crime scene once again. 

Sushant's death case is being investigated by three Central agencies namely CBI, NCB and the ED.