NCB charges Rhea Chakraborty with abetting Sushant Singh Rajput's extreme drug addiction

New Delhi: Actor Rhea Chakraborty has been charged by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) with allegedly procuring contraband for actor Sushant Singh Rajput and abetting his "extreme drug addiction".

The draft charges handed over by the NCB to the special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act gives details of charges against each accused.

For actor Rhea Chakraborty, then girlfriend of Sushant Singh Rajput, the draft charges state, "That in pursuance of aforesaid criminal conspiracy or otherwise, you accused no. 10 Rhea Chakroborty received many deliveries of ganja from Samuel Miranda, Showik Charoborty and Dipesh Sawant and others and handed over those deliveries to Actor late Sushant Singh Rajput and made payments for those deliveries at the instance Showik & Late Sushant Singh Rajput during the period March 2020 to September 2020."

The draft charges state that Chakraborty has thus committed offence under section 8[c] read with 20[b][ii]A, 27A,28, 29 & 30 of NDPS Act 1985.

The chargesheet has also named 34 others as accused in the high-profile case.

Her brother, Showik Chakraborty, has also been named as an accused.

The NCB has said she received and delivered marijuana to Sushant Singh. She also made payments for it at his instance, they said.

If convicted, Rhea Chakraborty could face over 10 years in jail.

The actor has called the allegations against her a "witch-hunt". In an interview with NDTV, she had admitted that Sushant Singh Rajput used to smoke marijuana, but denied that she used drugs or helped in procuring them.

"I tried to control him... I have never spoken to a (drug) dealer or taken drugs in my life. I am open to a blood test," she had told NDTV.

Besides the NCB, she is also being investigated by the CBI, which is probing Sushant Singh's death, and the economic aspect is being looked into by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Chakraborty was arrested in the case in September 2020. She was granted bail by the Bombay High Court almost a month after her arrest.

The NCB launched a probe into the drug use in Bollywood and the television industry following the death of actor Sushant Singh, 34, who was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. The police had said the death was a suicide.