Sushant Singh Rajput death: 3 years on, CBI yet to file chargesheet or close case, remains tight-lipped

Later, a panel of All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors who had collected the actor’s viscera and autopsy reports in October 2020 ruled out any foul play. The panel informed the central agency that it appeared that the actor had died by suicide and not been murdered.

Calls and messages to CBI officials and spokespersons to enquire about the status of the case went unanswered.

The case has been in the news since the actor was found dead in 2020 as a month after the actor’s death, several theories about the actor having been murdered started gaining momentum on social media platforms.

There were allegations that the death of the actor and his former assistant Disha Salian, who had died on June 8, 2020, were linked, and the duo had been murdered. The Mumbai police investigated the matter but found no foul play in the incident.

Based on Rajput’s father’s statement, the Bihar Police registered a murder case against Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her family members and domestic helpers working at Sushant’s residence. Eventually, the CBI took over the murder case and recorded the statements of several people, including Chakraborty.

While the CBI case did not take off, especially with the AIIMS report stating that it was death by suicide, another central agency, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), based on chats retrieved from Chakraborty’s phone, registered a case against her, her brother and others who allegedly supplied drugs to Rajput.

The probe was headed by Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede, who now faces allegations of corruption being probed by the CBI.

Through the case, the NCB, under Wankhede, decided to go after drug use in Bollywood and called in several high-profile actors like Deepika Padukone for questioning. Eventually, the NCB arrested Chakraborty, her brother and others and chargesheeted 33 people in the case this year. Chakraborty was eventually released on bail.

In 2021, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court asking CBI to provide the status of their investigation into the Rajput case. However, the Supreme Court did not entertain the plea and asked the applicant to move the high court in connection with his prayers in the PIL.