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Sushant Singh Rajput: Bollywood star dies at 34

https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/justic...and-this-is-why-2292872?pfrom=home-topstories

I assumed that after Rhea Chakraborty's arrest, the madness would end. But I was wrong. A new madness has begun. A portion of Kangana Ranaut's office was demolished and a new drama has been birthed.

There is outrage about much injustice being meted out to Kangana, and about fascism resurrecting itself in Mumbai. The people making these allegations are the same who showed no sympathy for a middle-class girl being hounded for the last two months by three central agencies, added and abetted by blood-thirsty TV channels; these people rejoiced in her arrest as s a great victory for nationalistic forces. These are people deluded that they are delivering justice for Sushant. These are people who survive on abuses, bitterness and hate. But today, the narrative has suddenly changed. They have turned victims. They are now demanding democracy and justice.

The story of the last few months has been of the news business setting loose bloodhounds ready to kill in the mad race for TRPs. This story will go down in history as a story of great shame and a dark chapter of motivated, valueless journalism.

This saga began after Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Initially, it was the tragic story of a promising life cut short. Suddenly, politicians from Bihar, hiding behind Sushant's family and firing from its shoulder, started weaving conspiracy theories about Sushant having been murdered. All of a sudden, Sushant's family, who earlier seemed satisfied with the Mumbai Police, lodged an FIR in Bihar.

Two charges were pressed in the FIR. One, it was insinuated that Rhea and her family may be responsible for Sushant's death. Two, Rhea and her family had siphoned off money from Sushant's bank account. The transacted amount was said to be of 15 crores. Rhea was depicted as a 'vishkanya' who had performed black magic on Sushant. She was the villain, he was the naive hero who fell for her and paid with his life. Three central agencies and the Bihar Police set out to investigate the matter like James Bond with supersonic speed as if the fate of the country hinged upon this case. Let's not forget the vigilante journalists who vowed to correct all the wrongs done to Sushant and his family and to get them justice in typical Shahenshah fashion.

The coverage by some of these journalists has been an exercise in malice. It was apparent that there was some score to be settled with the Maharashtra Government and the Mumbai Police. And this settling of scores was done in the name of "justice for Sushant". Viewers were fed wrong information and fake news.

Finally, Rhea and her brother were arrested in connection with on charges of procuring drugs and supplying them to Sushant. It is important to remember that no drug was confiscated from either of them. The case was trigged by WhatsApp chats and then Rhea reportedly told investigators that she had bought drugs for Sushant, allegedly describing him as a "drug addict" for whom she "did everything". The remand copy filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau in court says "During statement present respondent Rhea Chakraborty revealed about her involvement in procurement of drug and financial transaction and also her instructions to Samuel Miranda, Dipesh Sawant and Showik Chakraborty in this regard. Therefore it is clear from the statement that respondent is an active member of drug syndicate connected with drug supplies. It is also clear from their statement that the present respondent used to procure drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput for consumption purpose."

The last line is significant. According to the NCB, Sushant Singh Rajput was consuming drugs and the drugs were procured by Rhea and persons who were working for him at his residence. This busts the myth proposed by Sushant's family and TV channels that Sushant was being manipulated and wronged, a small-town boy brought up with good family values. Another sentence in the remand copy: "The present respondent used to manage finance for drug procurement along with Sushant Singh Rajput." So then he too was part of a "drug syndicate".

It is clear from the remand copy that Rhea is accused of buying drugs for Sushant, not of selling them or using them herself as announced by some TV channels. Now the issue is when a chargesheet is filed by the NCB, will it name him as the main man in this dug syndicate?

Is this what Sushant's family wanted? Is this justice for Sushant? In a television interview, Rhea pointed out that Sushant is now being remembered for his demons and not for his promising career or his talent. Maybe think about that.
 
Well said Ashutosh. If anything, Sushant's family and these excuse of news channels have sullied his reputation forever and 'justice' for him seems nowhere in sight.
 
Well said Ashutosh. If anything, Sushant's family and these excuse of news channels have sullied his reputation forever and 'justice' for him seems nowhere in sight.

Ashutosh is doing the same he is accusing others of. That those who were silent for the bengali gf are now crying victim for the pahari girl. when he also belongs to the group which were crying victim for the bangalan and silent for the pahari. neither side has moral upper hand, but we know the right wing is bad, but the pseudo liberal creatures have fallen so low that they are as bad as the right wing.
 
Ashutosh is doing the same he is accusing others of. That those who were silent for the bengali gf are now crying victim for the pahari girl. when he also belongs to the group which were crying victim for the bangalan and silent for the pahari. neither side has moral upper hand, but we know the right wing is bad, but the pseudo liberal creatures have fallen so low that they are as bad as the right wing.

How is both situation even comparable?? One is under witch hunt by all media houses and is in jail with her brother for “allegedly” consuming/procuring drugs and the other is getting Y plus security from home minister of India because of an “alleged” threat.
 
How is both situation even comparable?? One is under witch hunt by all media houses and is in jail with her brother for “allegedly” consuming/procuring drugs and the other is getting Y plus security from home minister of India because of an “alleged” threat.

This was not for you, my right winger friend. I was talking about the pseudo liberals, who are basically right wingers with better english.
 
In its ongoing probe into the drug angle to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday arrested one more person from Bandra, Karanjeet alias KJ.

According to NCB officials, Karanjeet was allegedly part of the drug syndicate which it had busted as part of the investigation. Sameer Wankhede, joint director of NCB, confirmed the arrest.

NCB officials did not comment on whether they found any drugs on Karanjeet or who he was in touch with. Karanjeet was brought to the NCB office in South Mumbai on Saturday morning and his questioning is going on, said NCB officials.

NCB has been conducting raids in the western suburbs including Bandra, Khar, Lokhandwala and Powai area.

As of now, the NCB has arrested 11 accused in the case including actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, Showik Chakraborty, Sushant Singh Rajput’s house manager, Samuel Miranda, domestic help Dipesh Sawant, and alleged drug peddlers Zaid Vilatra and Abdel Basit Parihar, Kaizan Ebrahim, Karna Arora, Abbas Lakhani, and Anuj Keshwani.

Rhea, Showik, Miranda, Sawant, Vilatra and Parihar are in judicial custody after their bail applications were rejected by a court on Friday. Arora, Lakhani and Ibrahim got bail soon after they were sent in judicial custody a week ago.

Keshwani is in NCB custody till September 14.

NCB had allegedly seized contrabands from Keshwani’s residence in Khar on September 6. Keshwani’s was arrested based on the statement of Ebrahim who revealed that he used to allegedly buy drugs from Keshwani.

Rajput was found hanging at his Mumbai apartment on June 14 in what police said appeared to be an open-and-shut case of suicide. The post-mortem report ruled out any foul play. After a two-week quiet, a political controversy erupted over the death, as a Bihar police team constituted to probe the case on a complaint by the actor’s family alleged it got no cooperation from its Mumbai counterpart.

The jurisdictional turf war spilled into the legal arena as the Supreme Court was approached to decide if CBI could investigate the matter. The issue became deeply acrimonious and divisive at multiple levels — between the Rajput and Chakraborty families, between the actors’ respective sets of fans, between the governments of the two states in question, and between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its former ally Shiv Sena — and left the entertainment industry split vertically.

The case opened up a raging debate in and about the industry, devolving into a war of words and allegations between two camps largely made up of “insiders” (with generational links to Bollywood) and “outsiders” (first-generation actors and filmmakers). Chakraborty and her supporters alleged that the Bihar government was trying to hijack the emotive issue for political capital ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumb...from-bandra/story-FXSyK1DsI6USpjn67VaKMO.html
 
Mumbai Police has provided security outside the Mumbai home of superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan as a precautionary measure, a day after Ms Bachchan spoke emphatically in parliament against what she called attempts to vilify the film industry with allegations of drug abuse related to the Sushant Singh Rajput death investigation.

Mumbai Police has provided the additional security outside Jalsa, the Bachchans' iconic bungalow in Juhu. The security has been given as a precautionary measure after Ms Bachchan was trolled on social media after her speech.

Hitting out at actor and BJP MP Ravi Kishen over his comments on drugs in Bollywood, Jaya Bachchan, a Samajwadi Party member, said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday: "Just because of a few people, you cannot tarnish the whole industry... Jis thaali me khaate hain usi me chched karte hain," she said.

Even as Ms Bachchan, 72, received tremendous support from several quarters of Bollywood after her fiery speech, a large section of social media users criticised her statements, with hashtags such as #ShameOnJayaBachchan trending on Twitter.

Ms Bachchan's statements were backed up by veteran actor and BJP MP Hema Malini who said Bollywood would "always remain in high esteem" and no one could bring it down in a flash over allegations like drugs and nepotism. In an emotional defence of the film industry, she told NDTV, "I got name, fame, respect, everything from this industry... it feels really hurtful."

Today, Maharashtra's ruling Shiv Sena came out in support of Jaya Bachchan for the stand she took in parliament. Hitting out at Ravi Kishan's allegations, the Sena said in an editorial in its party mouthpiece ''Saamana'', "Those who make such claims are hypocrites and their statements smack of double standards."

"A doping test should be conducted on those who claim that all artists and technicians in the film industry are under the influence of drugs," the party said.


https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sec...arks-on-drugs-row-2296189?pfrom=home-bigstory
 
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https://theprint.in/opinion/pov/jus...free-for-all-abuse-circus-bjp-it-cell/504456/

Justice for SSR campaign is now a free-for-all abuse circus. BJP IT cell has been overtaken

A person with actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s name as his/her Twitter handle left a nasty comment on social media wishing death on Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma’s unborn child. This one tweet is a broad reflection of what the campaign seeking ‘justice’ for Sushant has become — evil, hateful, and round-the-clock harassment of anyone on social media who is not doing what these mostly anonymous trolls do: abuse people endlessly using a hashtag.

The #JusticeForSSR campaign has unleashed an internet army worse than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s IT cell. The campaigners have nothing to do with justice, and there is no headquarter setting the daily agenda for them. They have decided that Sushant Singh Rajput, who is believed to have died by suicide on 14 June, was murdered and his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty is guilty. It doesn’t matter to them what the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) finds. It’s a free-for-all abuse circus.

And even though it might seem that those who are part of the campaign have nothing to do with the BJP, they do enjoy the political shield now, with the Bihar assembly election round the corner.

While the hashtag has become an excuse to vent frustration and abuse people, that is not how the Justice for Sushant army had started out.

When the news of Sushant’s suicide broke in mid-June, everyone was devastated. You, me, everyone. It was a strange loss, especially for middle-class India. All of a sudden, underdogs from small towns began to identify themselves with Sushant’s journey. Everyone wanted to end the toxicity and power structure that they believed had a role to play in Sushant’s death.

Soon, a potent army began to take shape. It rallied behind the actor’s death, trying to find reasons for his alleged suicide. Karan Johar to Alia Bhatt, everyone was blamed for enabling nepotism in Bollywood that didn’t let outsiders thrive. But nepotism is a forgotten word now. And the much-needed conversation about mental health taken a back seat.

Just look at any of the comments on actor Deepika Padukone’s posts, for instance. Someone who was among the first to speak up about depression after Sushant’s death faces a barrage of attack on anything she posts now — from comments like ‘depression ki aunty’, ‘depression ki karta dharta’ to ‘Depression Padukone’. The more hateful and nasty one can get, the more likes the commenter will receive.

But Deepika is not alone. Anyone not speaking the language of Kangana Ranaut, the actor that the frenzied mob is rallying behind with utmost loyalty, is being attacked, even when their posts have nothing to do with Sushant or the case.

American author Robert Jordan once wrote, “But men often mistake killing and revenge for justice. They seldom have the stomach for justice.” The Justice for Sushant army has become like that. It refuses to wait for the CBI to complete its investigation. Only now, with the upcoming Bihar assembly election, the BJP IT cell has joined the party — making full use of it to attack the opposition, and distract people from China, Covid and the sinking economy.

The evolution of the Justice for Sushant army points towards an insidious problem. It suggests that any tragic incident that sees ordinary people coming together to grieve can, and perhaps will, turn into a weapon to be used against the people, to whip up national frenzy. This crowd is dangerous for every Indian — those who are part of it and those who become its victim.

It also suggests that such an army doesn’t need any Amit Malviya to give it the green signal. Members of IT cells of political parties engage in everyday attack and abuse because they are mostly being paid to do so. But this Justice for Sushant campaign has turned against people, sometimes without any cause.

It is a sign of what lies ahead — a self-developed campaign born out of collective response to a tragic case can mutate into a hate crusade, with the IT cell taking over the ‘cause’. The ‘justice seekers’ will then get swept away by any ‘narrative’ injected into their ‘campaign’ by unknown entities. Anyone being a cheerleader of this hate campaign today must remember that they will become its victim tomorrow. All it will take is one comment or post.
 
https://theprint.in/opinion/pov/jus...free-for-all-abuse-circus-bjp-it-cell/504456/

Justice for SSR campaign is now a free-for-all abuse circus. BJP IT cell has been overtaken

A person with actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s name as his/her Twitter handle left a nasty comment on social media wishing death on Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma’s unborn child. This one tweet is a broad reflection of what the campaign seeking ‘justice’ for Sushant has become — evil, hateful, and round-the-clock harassment of anyone on social media who is not doing what these mostly anonymous trolls do: abuse people endlessly using a hashtag.

Typical uneducated "journalists" who need to attend a logic 101 class. Picking one tweet to smear an entire campaign for justice. If that was the case, then it should be applied to everything. Didnt bother to read this shoddy article after that sub IQ paragraph.
 
And of course.... the Pakistani angle....

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Investigations into the drug angle in film actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has led the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to large drug organisations and entities in Amritsar and Pakistan supplying cocaine and other hard drugs to Mumbai, and to Bollywood.

While the NCB is working on tracing the backtrail from consumer to peddler to supplier to those controlling the trade, the emerging picture is one that threatens to roil Bollywood with past and present A-listers and others showing up on the radar of the agency.

“We have a fair idea as to who is involved in the Bollywood drug scene and (who the) Mumbai suppliers (are). The evidence is being collected before the consumers of hard drugs including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine and their suppliers are charged,” said a senior NCB official who is familiar with the investigations in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. The official spoke on the conduct that he is not named.

While a key Amritsar link who is central to the investigation is expected to be summoned this week by NCB, the agency has sought the help of the US, UK, Canada and Australian drug enforcement agencies to unearth suppliers of cocaine to Mumbai. According to information shared by associate agencies, at least 1,200 kilograms of cocaine landed in India in 2018, with 300 kilograms landing in Mumbai alone. The number was discovered by a detailed investigation into a seizure of 55 kg of cocaine in Australia in June 2019; the same organization was behind both. NCB has already registered a case on the basis of the Australian report.

According to NCB officials, the majority of cocaine lands in India through the Columbia-Brazil-Mozambique route, while other African destinations and the Dubai area are sometimes used as an alternative route. Given that India is the largest producer of potassium permanganate, which is used in processing cocaine, there were even plans by some organizations to set up a cocaine processing unit in the country, these officials added.

With India consuming nearly one ton of heroin every day, associate agencies have also alerted NCB to the possibility of a processing unit in India for Afghan heroin coming through Punjab (from Pakistan) or through the sea route from Gujarat. Pakistan’s deep state has always used drug money for terrorist funding.

While NCB is conducting an intensive investigation into the drug angle of the Sushant Singh Rajput case, the matter needs to be handled carefully, the NCB official cited in the first instance said, with names of drug dealers linked with Maharashtra politicians and companies managing film actors and actresses also coming under the scanner.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...fia-cartels/story-y5G6Stj1WD8yJBATkOflFK.html
 
Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone has been summoned for questioning as part of an escalating drugs probe into the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian police said late on Wednesday.

The investigation has already seen actress Rhea Chakraborty arrested for allegedly buying drugs for her former boyfriend Rajput, who was found dead in June in his Mumbai apartment – with police saying he took his own life.

A star with many hit movies to his name, the 34-year-old’s death initially triggered a debate over mental health in the multi-billion-dollar industry.

Padukone, who has shared her own experience of living with depression, has spoken against stigma associated with the illness.

But Rajput’s family disputed reports that he suffered from depression and accused Chakraborty, 28, of stealing his money and harassing him. She has strongly denied the allegations.

Rajput’s death has sparked a media storm in India, where calls have mounted for a wider probe into Bollywood’s so-called “drugs mafia”, with television channels speculating that Chakraborty supposedly drove Rajput to suicide by purchasing cannabis for him.

India’s top anti-crime agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, has been probing his death since last month. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was looking into his consumption of cannabis.

Earlier this week, TV channel TimesNow broadcast sections of a WhatsApp conversation about procuring hash, alleging that the two people chatting were Padukone and her manager.

KPS Malhotra, deputy director of the NCB, told AFP the agency had summoned Padukone as well as actresses Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh for questioning.

The police have already detained others in connection with the case including Chakraborty’s brother and a member of Rajput’s house staff.

The investigation has grabbed headlines for months, and some celebrities including actresses Vidya Balan and Sonam Kapoor have accused TV channels of carrying out a “witch hunt” against Chakraborty.

Born in the eastern state of Bihar, Rajput quit his engineering studies to pursue a career in acting.

He got his big break in 2013 with Kai Po Che!, a film about cricket, love, and politics that won acclaim at the Berlin film festival.

He was also lauded for his portrayal of Indian cricket hero Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a hit 2016 biopic.

In an interview with AFP that year, Rajput spoke of the emotional rollercoaster he experienced while filming the movie, which portrayed the heartbreak suffered by Dhoni when his girlfriend died.

“After we did the preparation, in my head I was him and everything that was happening was actually affecting me,” he said.

Rajput’s last film was a Hindi remake of the Hollywood romance The Fault in Our Stars, titled Dil Bechara (Poor Heart), which was released in July.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ar-padukone-summoned-by-police-in-drugs-probe
 
Mumbai, India – Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead by apparent suicide at his Mumbai residence on June 14. What was a tragic end to a promising young star’s career has turned into a media frenzy centred on the 34-year-old actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty.

The case has since drawn in central investigation agencies as well as officers from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and has even become a political talking point for the upcoming elections in Bihar state – Rajput’s home state.

Chakraborty was arrested earlier this month, while prominent Bollywood personalities, including Deepika Padukone, have been questioned in an escalating drug investigation.

The police announced that Rajput’s was a case of accidental death and post-mortem and viscera reports accessed by the media ruled out foul play.

We see many male actors being accused of crimes but I have not seen a nastier trial before a guilty verdict

ACTOR TAPSEE PANNU

But Rajput’s family have accused Chakraborty, the actor’s live-in partner, of abetment to suicide, theft, cheating, conspiracy and wrongful confinement.

The Enforcement Directorate, examining money-laundering allegations against Chakraborty, has not found big transactions from the late actor’s account to the accused’s account. The Central Bureau of Investigation has not held a news briefing to reveal their findings.


But Chakraborty has found herself the subject of a vilification campaign by the media, including social media where “justice for Sushant” has trended multiple times in the past months, activists say.

The death of Sushant Singh Rajput has transfixed India [File: Joe Penney/Reuters]
Moral judgements
The actress and her brother remain in judicial custody under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, for allegedly procuring 59 grams of cannabis for Rajput. The NCB claims Chakraborty is part of a “drug syndicate”.

The investigation and unprecedented media coverage is a disquieting reminder of how women in Bollywood meet with harsher moral judgements than their male counterparts, lawyers and activists said.

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Nandita Rao, Delhi High Court lawyer and activist, said that the charges against the actor are not commensurate with the evidence.

“Marijuana is a ‘conventional’ drug. The quantity is so small. To be a drug dealer, you have to procure commercial quantities and there has to be someone apart from your boyfriend that you have to sell it to,” Rao told Al Jazeera.

The public scrutiny in such cases is based on the 'Raja Beta' syndrome - the son can do no wrong.

YASSER USMAN, THE AUTHOR OF THE UNOFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY, REKHA: THE UNTOLD STORY

The NCB is now probing an alleged drug nexus in Bollywood and has summoned more female actors for questioning based on WhatsApp conversations that were also displayed on news channels, raising privacy concerns.


Al Jazeera tried to contact officials from the NCB but had received no response by the time of publication.

Rao said that the media trial appears politically orchestrated.

“It started out as an agenda against second- and third-generation Bollywood producers and actors. When Rajput died by suicide, the narrative was that he was pushed to do it by nepotism in the film industry,” she told Al Jazeera.

“[But later,] when the Bihar election took centre stage, the same people started shouting from the rooftops that he was ill-treated by his girlfriend and that she stole his money and abandoned him. Some even said that he did not have a mental illness and that she had drugged him.

“All factually incorrect allegations. Murder and abetment to suicide are contradictory allegations. Then, it took a misogynistic spiral,” Rao said.

Earlier this month, the governing Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) cultural cell unveiled posters with a photograph of Rajput with the message, “na bhule hai, na bhulne denge (we have neither forgotten, nor will we forget)”. Critics say the BJP has tried to squeeze political mileage out of Rajput’s death.

The 24/7 media coverage
Noted filmmaker Hansal Mehta said the case looks like a diversionary tactic. “The real issues have taken a backseat – a migrant crisis, floods, the pandemic, nosediving GDP, the India-China standoff etc.”

The round-the-clock media coverage of the case has trumped the coronavirus crisis and the India-China border crisis, with television networks seeing record viewership.

Counselling psychologist Revati Deshpande attributes the public’s speculation frenzy to their learned world view.

“There is a heavily gendered schema that Rhea [Chakraborty] fits into. Historically, women have been seen as serving a purpose for men – common examples are media tropes like the manic pixie dream girl or demanding and abrasive wife,” Deshpande told Al Jazeera.

“A woman is either supposed to cure a man’s depression and be the meaning of his life or conversely ruin all his potential.”

The Indian male's infantilisation is passed off as the purity of his nature.

NAOMI DATTA, MEDIA COMMENTATOR


When Chakraborty presented her side in a news channel interview, people on social media questioned her “audacity” and judged her for “moving on too soon”. Columnist Shobhaa De even wrote a piece on “the lack of a twitch on her face” and her “sati-savitri” (a loyal, devoted wife) attire during the interview.

Naomi Datta, former broadcast journalist and media commentator, weighed in on the “righteous anger reserved for the girlfriend”.

“Thanks to the pandemic putting an end to all recreation, news channels have stepped in with their version of soap news. We casually talk about girls who ‘phasao’ [hooked] a good catch [a young man with prospects]. The Indian male’s infantilisation is passed off as the purity of his nature,” Datta told Al Jazeera.

“A channel bombarded us with a video where both Sushant and Rhea are smoking, we don’t know what, but the headline is ‘Rhea Exposed’. For smoking? And isn’t he smoking, too?” she asked.

When Rajput’s therapist Susan Walker disclosed to senior journalist Barkha Dutt that he had bipolar disorder and that Chakraborty was his “strongest support”, social media users castigated her for violating client-patient confidentiality.

“Women are perceived as having a higher Emotional Quotient and, therefore, also have to bear the labour of a man’s mental health,” said Deshpande.

Women in Bollywood

This is not the first time female actors in Bollywood have been held to different moral yardsticks for their romantic relationships or public conduct.

In the 1990s, Bollywood actress Rekha was blamed for the suicide death of her husband Mukesh Aggarwal.

Magazines like Showtime and Cine Blitz called her “The Black Widow”.

Yasser Usman, the author of the unofficial biography, Rekha: The Untold Story, said that people, including his mother, believed that Rekha killed her husband.

“Rekha didn’t claim Aggarwal’s property. There was no case against her, but her mother-in-law’s words were all over: ‘Woh Daayan Mere Bete Ko Kha Gayi’ [The witch gobbled up my son]. The public scrutiny in such cases is based on the ‘Raja Beta’ syndrome – the son can do no wrong,” Usman told Al Jazeera.

“This life-altering vilification turned her into a recluse and silenced her.


“[Bollywood actor] Sanjay Dutt was honest about his addiction from the start. He was never portrayed as a villain for that but for the arms case. People were compassionate to him and blamed his drug addiction on his mother’s long battle with cancer or his volatile love life,” Usman said, who has also authored, Sanjay Dutt: The Crazy Untold Story of Bollywood’s Bad Boy.

He said Bollywood is being portrayed as “a den of vice where only women consume drugs”.

In 2013, actor Sooraj Pancholi was charged based on a suicide note left by his ex-girlfriend Jiah Khan. When he was granted bail, the media reported that: “The prosecution had been on a witch-hunt against Pancholi because of his celebrity status.”

The court also stated, “Jiah and Sooraj were in a live-in relationship by volition. It cannot be said that the deceased had no option but to commit suicide.” Rajput did not leave a suicide note but that did not deter media from wild speculation about Chakraborty’s role in the actor’s death.

Karishma Upadhyay, film journalist and author of the biography, Parveen Babi: A Life, recounts how the film industry learned about the popular actress’ mental breakdown in 1979.

Some films were kept on hold for a few months. Mental health was so stigmatised that her manager initially said she had jaundice.

“People refused to believe that someone as beautiful and successful as her could have been struggling with mental health issues,” Upadhyay told Al Jazeera.

“Even today, the public and large parts of the media are ready to believe that a woman has performed black magic on a man than believing that he suffered from mental health issues that a host of doctors have confirmed.”

Actor Tapsee Pannu laments that it may take a few more lifetimes for things to be fair for women.

“We see many male actors being accused of crimes but I have not seen a nastier trial before a guilty verdict, even with three agencies on the case,” said Pannu, who is known for critically acclaimed films such as Pink, Thappad (Slap), and Mulk (Country).

“A certain section of the media and the society were so interested in seeing her [Chakraborty] behind bars that they forgot that she has been arrested on charges unrelated to the main investigation.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/...ea-chakraborty-and-bollywoods-moral-judgments
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Checked with Dr Sudhir Gupta of AIIMS again this evening. He says it’s not just him but the entire team of 7 top forensic experts who have UNANIMOUSLY concluded that Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide not murder. He’s confident of his findings. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Newstrack?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Newstrack</a> 8 pm.</p>— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) <a href="https://twitter.com/rahulkanwal/status/1312761606481170433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Checked with Dr Sudhir Gupta of AIIMS again this evening. He says it’s not just him but the entire team of 7 top forensic experts who have UNANIMOUSLY concluded that Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide not murder. He’s confident of his findings. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Newstrack?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Newstrack</a> 8 pm.</p>— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) <a href="https://twitter.com/rahulkanwal/status/1312761606481170433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
lol where is the justice for Sushant gang, namely Arnab & Kangana? Or were they frontmen of sanghis to help shift spotlight from their gross misgovernance during Covid times?

Apparently to save face, Kangana is now saying that abetment to suicide angle should be investigated against Mahesh Bhatt.
 
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sus...s-unprofessional-2306405?pfrom=home-topscroll

New Delhi: Days after a team of doctors from Delhi's AIIMS said that actor Sushant Singh Rajput was not murdered and that it is a case of suicide, his family has written to the CBI chief, seeking the formation of a fresh medical board to review the autopsy and viscera reports by a Mumbai hospital. The family, through its lawyers, has also accused the head of the AIIMS panel of being "unethical" and "unprofessional".

A team of doctors from Delhi's AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), in its opinion to the CBI, dismissed the theories of poisoning and strangling floated by the actor's family and their lawyer. Sources had told NDTV that the AIIMS panel has completed the examination and closed the file after giving conclusive medico-legal opinion in this case and that the CBI is corroborating the report with their investigation.

In its letter to the central probe agency today, Mr Rajput's family has hit out at Dr Sudhir Gupta, who heads the panel and the AIIMS forensic department, accusing him of "selectively" leaking the findings to the media. "The conduct of Dr Sudhir Gupta is unethical, unprofessional, in contravention of government service conduct rules and MCI guidelines. This criminal misadventure on his part has undermined public trust in a premier institution like AIIMS. It has created doubts in the minds of millions of people about the fairness of investigation (sic)," the family said, through its lawyers Varun Singh and Vikas Singh.

Sources had said that the AIIMS panel has concurred with the opinion of the Mumbai hospital that carried out the autopsy. The Mumbai hospital's autopsy had found "asphyxia due to hanging" as the cause of death. Sources added that circumstantial evidence also suggests that it was a case of suicide and not murder.

The CBI is likely to continue its probe into "abetment to suicide", the charge that was originally listed by the Bihar Police, sources said.

"...this matter needs to be referred to another forensic team to be constituted by CBI by picking up some of the best names in the filed from different hospital so that a fair and proper assessment takes place...," Sushant Singh Rajput's family said in its letter.

Sources have also told NDTV that it is not just the AIIMS medico-legal opinion, but also the Central Forensic Lab's opinion has ruled out any foul play in the death of the actor.

The demand for a fresh medical board comes on a day when actor Rhea Chakraborty, arrested over drugs-related charges in the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court.

Mr Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14.
 
So these guys don't even trust AIIMS now? Whom do they trust btw? The one who says that SSR was murdered?

These loonies are just sullying SSR's name even more.
 
So these guys don't even trust AIIMS now? Whom do they trust btw? The one who says that SSR was murdered?

These loonies are just sullying SSR's name even more.

I guess some people just refuse to accept that SSR had some demons in the closet and felt that ending it was the easiest way out..

His death should be a reminder of the struggles of mental health and the stigma around it but unfortunately, it's become a wild goose hunt..
 
I guess some people just refuse to accept that SSR had some demons in the closet and felt that ending it was the easiest way out..

His death should be a reminder of the struggles of mental health and the stigma around it but unfortunately, it's become a wild goose hunt..
True.

When this news broke and subsequent disclosures which followed, sane people hoped that finally mental health issue will be brought to the forefront as a celebrity has committed suicide. But no, people with ulterior motives and who had nothing to do with SSR tried to cash in and spun the narrative as per their agenda. And result is in front of us.

Sad part is that even SSR's immediate family gave in to such temptations and since then they have only besmirched SSR even further.
 
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/act...nth-after-arrest-2306597?pfrom=home-topscroll

Mumbai: Actor Rhea Chakraborty left Mumbai's Byculla prison this evening after being granted bail by the Bombay High Court, 28 days after her arrest on drugs-related charges in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. Her brother Showik has been denied bail.
The actor, hounded by the media in the past, left in a car with its windows covered with newspapers. It drove through a huge crowd of reporters, cameramen, policemen and others gathered outside the jail. The Mumbai Police had warned the media against "chasing celebrities and others" and "endangering lives" shortly after the actor's bail.

Rhea Chakraborty will "spend her night after a month in her own bed," Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Satish Maneshinde said.

Rhea Chakraborty and her brother were among 15 people arrested in early September over allegations of arranging drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput, a 34-year-old movie star who was found dead in his Mumbai home on June 14.

While granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty, the Bombay High Court all but demolished the Narcotics Control Bureau's case against the 28-year-old actor, who was accused of being "an active member of a drug syndicate". The High Court said she was not a part of a chain of drug dealers.

The order also noted that the investigation had found Sushant Singh Rajput used to procure drugs and many others helped him.

"Since she has no criminal antecedents, there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail," the order said.

Rhea Chakraborty is accused of buying drugs for her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput. The High Court said "simply providing money for a particular transaction or other transactions will not be financing of that activity" and allegations of spending money in procuring drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput "do not mean that she had financed illicit traffic." The court also noted that the actor's charges did not involve commercial quantity of drugs.
 
Arnab and bhakts would be absolutely livid, one bad news after the other in this case over last 2-3 days. After all they had already demonized Rhea.

Even though nothing comes out of defamation cases in India, Rhea should sue at least Arnab for loss of her reputation over past few weeks.
 
Arnab and bhakts would be absolutely livid, one bad news after the other in this case over last 2-3 days. After all they had already demonized Rhea.

Even though nothing comes out of defamation cases in India, Rhea should sue at least Arnab for loss of her reputation over past few weeks.


What reputation did she have to lose? She should thank Arnab and us bhakts that she is a known face now and may get bigg boss entry next season, and some movies from the bhatts of bollywood.
 
Is this true?

The Mumbai police claims that their cyber cell has found that 80,000 fake social media accounts were set up to spread misinformation about the Sushant Singh Rajput case. These accounts were outsourced to professional troll factories in such countries as Romania, Poland, Turkey, Indonesia, etc. It was this manipulation of social media that created the uproar over Sushant's death and led to the dissemination of fake news.

If indeed this is true then you know who was trying to get political mileage out of this case since the beginning. Likes of Arnab & Kangana were merely pawns in this political slugfest.
 
https://theprint.in/politics/wont-l...-sushant-campaign-in-poll-bound-bihar/497049/

‘Won’t let anyone forget’ — BJP releases posters for Sushant campaign in poll-bound Bihar

New Delhi: The BJP has launched a campaign in Bihar seeking “justice for actor Sushant Singh Rajput”, with the party planning to paste posters across the state declaring, “Na bhoole hain, na bhulne denge (we have neither forgotten, nor will we let anyone forget)”, along with a photograph of the late actor.

The BJP, however, insists all this has nothing to do with the assembly elections slated to be held in the state later this year.

The BJP’s cultural cell has so far printed about 30,000 posters and stickers, and 30,000 masks, all with the message, “Na bhoole hain…”, and a photo of Rajput.

The posters are to be pasted on rickshaws (a popular election campaign strategy in Bihar) and on the doors of houses. The party has also been demanding that the proposed Rajgir film city in Nalanda district be named after the actor. It had earlier demanded that the Rajiv Nagar Chowk in Patna be renamed the Sushant Singh Chowk — Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has forwarded the demand to Roads Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, who is from the BJP.

The party claimed there is “nothing political” about its campaign.

“There is no question of politics over Sushant Singh Rajput. He was the son of Bihar and the truth should come out. His family should get justice. What is wrong in it?” Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal told ThePrint.

“We have been campaigning for Sushant since the 16 of June (two days after his death). There is nothing political about it,” said Varun Singh, the BJP’s cultural cell convenor.

“He was the son of Bihar and deserves justice. I was the first to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for a fair inquiry. We are conducting various programmes to ensure justice for Sushant Singh Rajput.”

Sources, however, said the BJP has appointed former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as the Bihar election in-charge to keep the issue alive in two states. The party is hoping to put the Maha Vikas Aghadi government on the backfoot in Maharashtra, while raising the emotional pitch over Rajput’s death in Bihar.

The concerted BJP campaign also comes at a time investigating agencies have stepped up action against Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty. The actress was summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Sunday, while her brother Showik Chakraborty has been arrested in connection with the drugs probe linked to Rajput’s death.

In the caste-ridden politics of Bihar, the BJP’s efforts are being seen as an attempt by the party to woo the state’s Rajput community.

And it’s not just the BJP alone. Parties such as Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, whose support base is largely the backward caste, have also championed the actor’s cause keeping the Rajput vote in mind.

“We were the first to demand a CBI inquiry into the Sushant Singh case,” said J.P. Yadav, former minister and a Lalu Prasad confidant. “Tejashwi (Yadav) has visited the family. This has nothing to do with politics. Our state president Jagdanand Singh is a seasoned Rajput leader. This is a question of justice for the death of one of Bihar’s sons.”

Although the Rajputs constitute only 4 per cent of Bihar’s population, they are dominant upper castes who can influence others to vote for a party. They are largely associated with the BJP and the JD(U).

The Rajputs are a force in around 40 of the 243 assembly constituencies and enjoy decent political clout. In the 2015 assembly elections, for instance, the BJP fielded 30 Rajputs while the then Mahagathbandhan fielded 12 from the community. In all, there are 19 Rajput legislators in the state, and among them is Rajput’s cousin, Neeraj Singh of the BJP.

The case, a Rajput leader from the BJP said, has given the community’s leaders a chance to re-assert their influence in Bihar, which has been waning since the Mandal era and the rise of the state’s once suppressed castes. The current Bihar assembly has 61 Yadav MLAs, 38 Dalit and 24 Muslim legislators.

“The case has created an opportunity for Rajput leaders to re-assert their influence,” the BJP leader said. “Maybe this is one of reasons why the Sushant Singh suicide case has become a major issue in the state. Politics is not only about facts and figures but also about emotion, which every political party is doing its best to arouse in this case.”
lol, what will happen to those posters now? However knowing the Bihari electorate, they'd have already made up their minds whom to vote for basis those posters.....
 
lol, what will happen to those posters now? However knowing the Bihari electorate, they'd have already made up their minds whom to vote for basis those posters.....

In bihar, all parties including jdu, bjp, congress and rjd took up this issue. Not going to be a factor in elections. Another useless article from the print.
 
Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty was granted bail on Wednesday, nearly a month after being arrested for allegedly buying drugs for her ex-boyfriend, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose suicide sparked a media storm in India.

Rajput, 34, was found dead in June in his Mumbai apartment, triggering a national frenzy with television news channels speculating that Chakraborty drove him to take his own life with cannabis and black magic.

A star with many hits to his name, Rajput’s suicide initially triggered a debate over mental health in India’s multibillion-dollar movie industry.

But Rajput’s family disputed reports that he suffered from depression and accused Chakraborty, 28, of stealing his money and harassing him. She has strongly denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, a court in Mumbai ordered that the actress be released on bail, her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said, calling it a victory for “truth and justice”.

“The arrest and custody of Rhea was totally unwarranted and beyond the reach of law,” he said in a statement.

Her brother Showik, who was also arrested last month, remains in custody.

Chakraborty and her family have been hounded by Indian media who spent months obsessing over the case. Some celebrities, including actresses Vidya Balan and Sonam Kapoor, have accused TV channels of subjecting her to a “witch-hunt”.

The country’s top anti-crime agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been probing Rajput’s death since August, while the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been looking into his consumption of cannabis. CBI is the federal agency that handles high-profile investigations in India.

The Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences completed its forensic examination earlier this month and reportedly ruled that the actor had died by suicide, not murder, dismissing speculative claims made by some TV channels.

The saga has now morphed into a probe of drug use in Bollywood, with police and the NCB hauling in superstar Deepika Padukone and other actresses for questioning last month.

Rajput was unusual among Bollywood stars in that he did not come from one of the industry’s many powerful families, hailing instead from Bihar, India’s poorest state.

Abandoning his engineering studies in Delhi for Mumbai, he got his big break in 2013 and won acclaim for his portrayal of Indian cricket hero Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a hit 2016 biopic.

In an interview with AFP that year, he spoke of the emotional rollercoaster he experienced while filming the movie, which portrayed the heartbreak suffered by Dhoni when his girlfriend died.

“After we did the preparation, in my head I was him and everything that was happening was actually affecting me,” he said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/7/bollywood-actress-wins-bail-in-ex-boyfriend-suicide-case
 
Sushant Singh Rajput’s MS Dhoni: The Untold Story co-star Sandeep Nahar died by suicide on Monday after posting a lengthy note on social media detailing his intentions.

According to the Times of India, he also posted a video on his Facebook page in which he spoke of ending his life.

He reportedly touched on a number of topics, ranging from politics in Bollywood to his struggles in Mumbai. He said that no one in his family should be made responsible for his actions but pointed a finger at his wife and her mother for causing him “mental trauma”.


The Indian police said his body was found at his house in Mumbai's Goregaon. A case has been registered and the police have not ruled it a suicide yet.

According to ANI, Nahar's wife told the police that she and other people recovered the body. It has been sent for a post-mortem examination and the cause of death will be determined after that.

Anupam Kher, who played Rajput’s father in the film, said Nahar was a “happy go lucky guy”.

Nahar also starred in Kesari, Khandaani Shafakhana and Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain.

In June 2020, Rajput's body was found at his house in Mumbai and his death was ruled a suicide. His death sparked a conversation in Bollywood on mental health and the insular nature of the industry.

Rajput had made his debut in 2014's Kai Po Che and went on to star in numerous Bollywood movies.

Several of Rajput’s friends in the industry have since written about his struggles to break through, while social media and some cultural commentators have criticised the allegedly closed culture in Bollywood, where some families have dominated for up to four generations.

https://images.dawn.com/news/118656...-dead-after-posting-social-media-suicide-note
 
New developments in the Sushant Singh Rajput case suggest that his death is not as simply conclusive as it seemed. It was ruled as a suicide but there are people ready to challenge that even after two years. A mortuary worker said the autopsy revealed evidence of inflicted violence and the bodily state matched that of a murder case. The Bollywood actor’s lawyer reasserted that it was not a “simple suicide” and his sister Shweta Singh Kirti has demanded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigate fairly.

https://images.dawn.com/news/119132...as-not-suicide-but-murder-says-mortuary-staff
 

Sushant Singh Rajput’s sister drops bombshell about actor’s death​

Priyanka Singh, the sister of late Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has unveiled startling insights into the circumstances surrounding her brother's tragic demise.

In a recent interview, Priyanka disclosed that Sushant was deeply troubled following the death of his manager, Disha Salian.

According to Priyanka, Sushant, who typically disregarded negative news and threats, became apprehensive for his safety after Disha's passing.

She revealed that her brother expressed concerns about his well-being and often spoke about feeling threatened.

Recalling the events of June 14, 2020, Priyanka mentioned that Sushant was found dead in his Mumbai apartment, with the police initially suggesting the possibility of suicide. However, Priyanka's revelations shed new light on the actor's state of mind leading up to his untimely death.

Priyanka’s account raises more questions than answers, and the investigation into Sushant's death continues to be a topic of public interest.

Source: SAMAA
 
It feels more like a murder than a suicide because every few months I hear a new narrative and now her sister has come up with yet another one.
 
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