New Delhi:

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today named 33 persons, including actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik, in a charge sheet filed before a special court in Mumbai in a case related to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year. The document of nearly 12,000 pages has statements recorded of more than 200 witnesses.

The NCB began the probe following the death of Mr Rajput, 34, last June. It had arrested both Ms Chakraborty and her brother under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances (NDPS) Act, but they were released later on bail. Of the 33 accused, eight are still in judicial custody.

During the investigation, several substances, electronic gadgets, and Indian as well as foreign currency were seized. The charge sheet now states that the tests confirm that the seized substances were narcotic in nature. This includes charas, ganja, LSD, ecstacy, and psychotropic substances such as alprazolam and clonazepam covered under provisions of the NDPS Act.

The agency has also claimed that incriminating evidence, comprising digital evidence, call records, WhatsApp chats, location tags, video and voice recordings, and several other documents had been submitted.

The NCB began probing drug cartels’ links to the film industry following revelations from several WhatsApp chats in the wake of Mr Rajput’s death. Subsequently, several top celebrities, including Deepika Padukone, Firoz Nadiadwala, and Shraddha Kapoor, were questioned.