Bihar Police to probe suicide of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager

Mumbai Police have so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those of Rajput's family, his cook and people from the film industry.
Late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput (Photo | PTI)
Late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput (Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI: The Bihar Police team, which is in Mumbai to investigate a case related Sushant Singh Rajput's death, will also probe the alleged suicide of his former manager Disha Salian, and if needed also record the statements of those Bollywood personalities, who were earlier questioned by their Mumbai counterparts, officials said on Sunday.

Patna City Superintendent of Police (SP), Vinay Tiwari, on Sunday reached Mumbai to supervise the probe being conducted by the four-member team from the Bihar capital.

Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14.

Mumbai Police, who are probing the death case, have so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those from Rajput's family, his cook and people from the film industry that include filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and filmmaker Aditya Chopra.

The Bihar Police team is probing a separate 'abetment to suicide' case on the basis of a complaint filed by the late actor's father in Patna.

Talking to PTI, Inspector General of Police (Patna zone) Sanjay Singh, said, "We are going to investigate the suicide case of Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager Disha Salian, and will also question his friend and creative content manager Siddharth Pithani, who was staying with the actor for the past one year."

"Our officials are visiting all possible places related to this case. They had also visited Rajput's residence and recreated the scene. In the coming days, more people are likely to be questioned in the case," he said.

Salian, 28, allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the high-rise building in Malad area here on June 8.

Apart from Rajput, Salian had also managed the work of actors like Bharti Singh, Rhea Chakraborty and Varun Sharma.

Earlier Pithani had sent an e-mail to the Mumbai Police, alleging that family members of the late Bollywood star pressurised him to give a statement against actress Rhea Chakraborty, an official said.

On Tuesday, Rajput's father Krishna Kumar Singh (74) had lodged a complaint in Patna against Chakraborty and six others, including her family members, for alleged abetment to suicide.

Singh accused Chakraborty, a budding TV and film actor, of having befriended his son in May 2019 with the intention of furthering her own career.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters on his arrival at the Mumbai airport, Patna SP Vinay Tiwari said, "I am here to supervise my team. We will probe all possible angles. The Mumbai police is probing the case as per their style and we will do so as per ours. If required, we will also record the statements of Bollywood celebrities whose statements were recorded by the Mumbai police."

Replying to a query, he said it was not right to say that the Bihar team was not getting cooperation from the Mumbai police.

"The investigation is progressing in a proper way and we are going in the right direction. Our team is here to get all the important documents related to the case," he said.

So far, the Bihar police have recorded statements of 10 people in connection with Rajput's death.

Replying to a query over Rhea Chakraborty, Tiwari said, "We will trace all those persons required in the case and record their statements. In the last one week, our team has recorded statements of many people in the case."

The visiting team has requested the Mumbai police for all documents related to the probe, including reports of the forensic laboratory, inquest, post-mortem, and the relevant CCTV footage.

The Bihar police also want details of all those who were examined by the Mumbai police and what they said in their statements.

The Patna case was registered under various IPC sections including 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 306 (abetment of suicide).

Rajput starred in films like "Shuddh Desi Romance", "Raabta", "Kedarnath", "Chhichhore" and "Sonchiriya".

His most prominent role was that of cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story".

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