Mumbai: Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt will record his statement with the Mumbai Police in the next couple of days in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Sunday.
Besides him, producer-director Karan Johar's manager has been called to record the statement and if needed, Johar himself will be asked to do so, the minister said.
"Mahesh Bhatt will record his statement in a day or two," Deshmukh told reporters.
The police are investigating allegations that professional rivalry, besides clinical depression, drove the actor to suicide.
"Summons have also been sent to actor Kangana Ranaut, asking her to record her statement," the minister said.
After Rajput's suicide at his apartment in Mumbai last month, Ranaut had lashed out at nepotism and cartels in Bollywood, alleging that he was its victim.
According to police, Ranaut is currently in Manali.
Deshmukh said that police have so far recorded statements of 37 people in connection with the case.
They include director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, filmmaker, and Yash Raj Films (YRF) chairman Aditya Chopra and film critic Rajeev Masand.
The "Chhichore" actor, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in Mumbai on June 14.
Rajput starred in films such as "Shuddh Desi Romance", "Raabta", "Kedarnath" and "Sonchiriya". But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic- "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story".
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
New Delhi (PTI): India has protested in the strongest possible terms the references made by a Canadian minister about Union Home Minister Amit Shah and such "absurd and baseless" allegations will have serious consequences for bilateral ties between the two countries, the Minister of External Affairs said on Saturday.
The comments came after Canada's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison on Tuesday alleged that Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada.
Morrison had also told Canadian Parliament members of the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah's name to The Washington Post, which first reported the allegations.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this revelation that high Canadian government officials deliberately leaked unfounded insinuations to international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view that the Indian government has long held about the current Canadian government's political agenda and behavioural pattern.
Replying to queries during a weekly press briefing here, Jaiswal said such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.
He said India summoned a Canadian High Commission representative on Friday and the official was served a diplomatic note to lodge the protest in strongest terms on the "absurd and baseless" references made by the Canadian deputy minister about India's Union Home Minister.
While addressing the Parliament members, Morrison did not say how Canada knew of Shah's alleged involvement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.
Dismissing the allegations as absurd, Indian government officials have consistently denied that Canada provided evidence.