Ranveer seeks NCB's approval to join Deepika during probe
Actor Ranveer Singh has requested the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to let him join his wife, fellow actor Deepika Padukone during her questioning on Saturday. Deepika, 34, has been summoned for interrogation in the widening drug investigations linked to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. Both of them flew down from Goa to Mumbai yesterday after summons were served. Here are more details.
Deepika's name had surfaced in this case during the questioning of talent manager Jaya Saha. In the purported text messages retrieved from Jaya's phone, Deepika and others had in October 2017 talked about procuring "maal" or marijuana and "hash" or hashish. Deepika's manager Karishma Prakash has also been summoned. Karishma was questioned earlier as well.
Now, in his request to the NCB, Ranveer has stated that Deepika, at times, suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, and thus he should be given permission to be with her. Telling the agency that he is a "law-abiding citizen," Ranveer added he realizes that he cannot be present at the time of Deepika's questioning, but wants to be allowed inside the NCB office.
Reportedly, the NCB has not yet taken a decision on Ranveer's application. Meanwhile, actors Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan, both former co-stars of Sushant, have also been asked to appear before the agency on Saturday. Actor Rakul Preet Singh will appear before the NCB today. Yesterday, fashion designer Simone Khambatta and Sushant's former manager Shruti Modi recorded statements with the NCB.
Sushant was found dead at his home in Mumbai on June 14. The actor died by suicide and had been suffering from depression, Mumbai Police had said. His family, however, contested claims of mental illness and accused actor Rhea Chakraborty, his girlfriend, of mentally harassing him and driving him to suicide. Apart from NCB, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate are also probing the matter.
On September 8, following days of questioning, Rhea Chakraborty was arrested by the NCB. Her brother Showik, two employees of Sushant, and a number of alleged drug peddlers have also been nabbed in the case. Rhea is currently in judicial custody until October 6. She has filed a bail petition in the Bombay High Court, which will be heard on Tuesday, September 29.
