Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput‘s close friend, hotelier Kunal Jani, who was earlier absconding, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on Thursday from Mumbai’s Khar area in the drugs cases related to the actor’s death, ANI tweeted.
Later in the day, Jani’s lawyers Prashant Patil and Swapnil Ambure issued a statement reacting to his arrest, as per an ETimes report.
In the statement, they said that Jani was produced before the magistrate and they had pointed out that the allegation against him was of personal consumption of illegal substances, which is said to have happened four years ago. They added that this is not a serious allegation and only attracts a punishment of one year.
Further, they mentioned that an opportunity must be given to correct the wrong and Jani cannot be prosecuted if he undergoes probation for getting rid of the alleged addiction.
“In view of the holidays and pending medical report, the court remanded Mr Kunal to NCB custody till October 4,” the statement added.
Rajput died by suicide on June 14, 2020 in Mumbai. His death sparked several controversies regarding mental health issues and nepotism in the Hindi film industry. It also resulted in a massive drug probe, currently being investigated by the NCB and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Earlier in May, Rajput’s flatmate Siddharth Pithani, who was also one of the people present in the flat when the actor died, was booked under multiple sections of the NDPS Act, 1985. He was arrested by the NCB on May 26 from his residence in Hyderabad.
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A few days later, on May 30, the late actor’s former domestic helps Neeraj and Keshav were summoned by the NCB for questioning in connection with the case.
Subsequently, his family filed cases against Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty for mishandling Rajput’s money and procuring drugs for Rajput. During the investigation, the NCB had said that the siblings facilitated drug deliveries and paid for the drugs.
The Chakraborty siblings are currently out on conditional bail.