Court extends Rhea's brother Showik Chakraborty’s judicial custody till November 3

The special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of actor Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik and other accused arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with its probe into the drug angle to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s (SSR) death. Showik was arrested on September 4 and remained in NCB custody till September 9. He was later remanded in judicial custody and has been in jail since. Showik was arrested based on a statement by Abdel Basit Parihar, who claimed that he used to procure drugs from arrested accused Zaid Vilatra and Kaizan Ebrahim on the instruction of Showik. 

NCB claimed that Showik, during questioning, had revealed names of several Bollywood celebrities and peddlers involved in the drug network. In his statement to the agency, Showik revealed that he used to “facilitate the delivery of drugs through Parihar by Ebrahim and Zaid”. “These deliveries used to be received by aids of Rajput and every delivery and payment was in conscious knowledge of Rhea and even some times payments and choice of drugs were confirmed by her,” his statement added.Showik’s bail plea was rejected, first by NDPS court, and later by the Bombay high court. On October 7, 2020, Rhea Chakraborty was granted bail by Bombay High Court, but her brother, Showik Chakraborty's bail plea had been rejected. Showik was earlier remanded to custody till October 20, 2020. Meanwhile, SSR's staff members, Dipesh Sawant and Samuel Miranda, who were arrested along with Showik, have been granted bail.