ED summons Rhea Chakraborty to appear on Aug 7
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned actor Rhea Chakraborty for questioning on Friday in a money laundering probe stemming from a complaint filed by Sushant Singh Rajput's father with the Bihar Police in connection with his death, officials said on Wednesday.
They said Chakraborty, 28, has been asked to depose before the investigating officer of the case on August 7.
Once she appears, the actor is expected to be questioned about her friendship with Rajput, possible business dealings and the developments that took place over the last few years between them.
Her statement will be recorded by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The summons are linked to a money laundering case that was registered by the ED on July 31 on the basis of a Bihar Police FIR in which Sushant Singh Rajput's 74-year-old father K K Singh had accused actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family of abetting the Bollywood actor's suicide.
Rajput, 34, was found hanging in his apartment in Mumbai's Bandra area on June 14.
The central probe agency also questioned Sushant's house manager in Mumbai on Wednesday in this case.
It had grilled the deceased actor's Chartered Accountant (CA) Sandeep Shridhar on August 3.
Under the ED's scanner are at least two companies linked to Rajput and some financial deals involving Chakraborty and her brother Showik.
The ED case, registered on July 31, has been filed against the accused named in the Bihar Police FIR that includes Chakraborty, her family and six others.
Rajput's father, who resides in Patna, had last month lodged the complaint with the Bihar Police against Chakraborty, her family members and six others for abetment to suicide of his son and fraud.
Singh has accused Chakraborty, purported girlfriend of Rajput, of having befriended his son in May 2019 with the intention of furthering her own career.
The father also wanted a police investigation to ascertain where the Rs 15 crore, which he claimed was deposited in a bank account held by Rajput, had been transferred.
The Mumbai police is also probing the alleged suicide case, and has questioned several top Bollywood producers and directors in this case.
Chakraborty had released a video statement soon after the ED case was filed.
"I have immense faith in god and the judiciary. I believe that I will get justice. Even though a lot of horrible things are being said about me on the electronic media, I refrain from commenting on the advice of my lawyers as the matter is sub-judice. Satyamev Jayate, the truth shall prevail," she had said in the message.
The Supreme Court, while hearing Chakraborty's plea for transferring the Bihar Police FIR to the Mumbai Police, on Wednesday said that truth behind the "unfortunate" death of a "gifted and talented artist" (Rajput) should come out even as the Centre apprised it of having accepted the Bihar government's recommendation for a CBI probe in the matter.
Rajput starred in films like 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Kedarnath', 'Chhichhore' and 'Sonchiriya'. His most prominent role was in cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni's biopic 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'.
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AI-powered robotic canal cleaning system commissioned in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) (PTI): In a major step to phase out manual scavenging and ensure the safety of sanitation workers, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation commissioned G-Spider, an AI-powered robotic canal-cleaning system, at the Amayizhanchan canal near the railway station premises at Thampanoor here, officials said on Thursday.
The system was launched by Minister for Local Self-Governments MB Rajesh at a function presided over by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor VV Rajesh on Wednesday.
The AI-powered canal cleaning project is a joint initiative of the city corporation and Technopark-based Genrobotic Innovations, which developed Bandicoot, a robotic scavenger.
As per the agreement, Genrobotics will bear the full cost of deploying the robotic system, while the corporation will supervise its operation and maintenance.
Speaking at the event, the minister said Genrobotics has set an example of how innovative ideas can be transformed into impactful entrepreneurship.
He said that of the seven compressed biogas (CBG) plants to be commissioned in the state for solid waste management, one will be set up in the state capital.
Rajesh said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Rs 100-crore CBG plant at Brahmapuram in Kochi on February 28, adding that 90 per cent of the nine lakh metric tonne of accumulated waste at the site has already been removed.
He further said work on the Palakkad plant will be completed in February, while construction of another plant in Thrissur is progressing, and a plant at Changanassery is in the pipeline.
The minister added that the construction of four sanitary plants will be inaugurated next week.
In his address, the mayor reiterated the corporation’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies for waste management and lauded the Genrobotics team, stating that the civic body would explore all possible ways to utilise the company’s technology.
Repeated manual cleaning efforts in the area had led to serious safety incidents, including the death of sanitation worker Joy in 2024.
In this backdrop, the corporation initiated the deployment of robotic cleaning technology in strict compliance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, with the aim of eliminating human entry into hazardous canal-cleaning operations, officials said.
Corporation Deputy Mayor Asha Nath GS, Divisional Railway Manager Divyakant Chandrakar, and Genrobotic Innovations CEO and co-founder Vimal Govind MK were present on the occasion.
G-Spider is designed to operate in complex, high-risk canal environments without requiring human entry.
Built on a cable-driven parallel robotics architecture integrated with AI-enabled vision and sensor systems, the robotic platform enables precise detection, assessment and removal of accumulated waste.
The system uses machine vision and intelligent sensors to autonomously identify and assess waste in real time, dynamically adapting to varying waste types, water flow conditions and structural constraints within canals, officials said.
Guided by AI-driven vision algorithms, the robotic mechanism performs precise waste extraction through a five-degrees-of-freedom configuration, enabling accurate positioning, stable gripping, and reliable debris removal.
The extracted waste is automatically transferred to designated collection vehicles, enabling a fully hands-free, end-to-end canal cleaning process from detection to disposal, they added.
