CBI questions Sushant's friend, house helps, visits his flat
Mumbai: CBI sleuths on Sunday questioned actor Sushant Singh Rajput's friend Siddharth Pithani, cook Neeraj Singh and domestic help Deepesh Sawant at the DRDO guest house here in connection with his death case and later visited the actor's flat in Bandra along with them, an official said.
In the morning, Pithani, Neeraj and Sawant arrived separately at the DRDO guest house in Kalina are of Santcaruz, where the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) officials probing the case are staying, an official said.
These three persons, who were present in the flat when Rajput (34) was found hanging in his room on June 14, were questioned for about five hours following which the CBI sleuths took them to the late actor's residence at Mont Blanc Apartments in suburban Bandra around 2.45 pm, he said.
Forensic science experts were also part of the CBI team which visited Rajput's residence, the official said. Mumbai Police officials were also present at the actors house, he added.
On Saturday also, the CBI team accompanied by Pithani, Neeraj and Sawant visited the late actor's house in Bandra to reconstruct the sequence of events before he was found dead.
Another CBI team on Saturday visited the state-run Cooper Hospital in the city, where autopsy had been performed on Rajput's body.
A third CBI team had visited the Bandra police station to meet Mumbai Police officials who were investigating Rajput's alleged suicide earlier.
On Friday, the CBI officials recorded the statements of Pithani and Neeraj.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged by Rajput's father in Patna against actor Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting his suicide, to the CBI.
After Rajput was found hanging in his apartment in June, the Mumbai Police registered a case of accidental death.
Later, Rajput's father filed a police complaint in Patna, accusing Chakraborty and her family of abetting the actor's suicide and misappropriating his money.
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Ex-CJI Chandrachud removed fear of law from political defectors, claims Sanjay Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, alleging that he had removed the fear of the law from politicians who defected from parties in Maharashtra.
Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader's statement comes after his party faced a severe drubbing in the state assembly elections, as it managed to clinch only 20 out of 95 seats it contested as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The performance of the party's alliance partners was no better, with the Congress winning only 16 out of 101 seats and NCP (SP) getting only 10 out of 86 seats it contested.
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged, "He (Chandrachud) has removed the fear of the law from defectors. His name will be written in black letters in history."
Following the split in the undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, the party's faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray filed petitions in the Supreme Court on the disqualification of party MLAs who defected along with Eknath Shinde. The apex court put the onus on the assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions, which he did earlier this year, declaring the Sena bloc led by Shinde as the “real political party”.
Raut alleged that the results of the assembly election were pre-decided. If the then CJI had decided on the disqualification petitions on time, the outcome would have been different.
"We are sad but not disappointed. We will not leave the fight incomplete. Division of votes was also a factor, and the RSS played an important role in the election. The poisonous campaign impacted us negatively," he said.
He said the swearing-in ceremony for the new government should be held in neighbouring Gujarat.
Meanwhile, in his weekly column "Rokhthok" in the party mouthpiece "Saamana", the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that it was time to offer condolences to the Election Commission, which turned a blind eye to the use of money power.
"The courts have been in the ICU for a long time," he alleged.
