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Late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely death took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when his father, K.K. Singh, filed a first information report (FIR) at the Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna, Bihar, accusing six people, including actress Rhea Chakraborty, of abetment.
Rhea admitted to being Sushant's girlfriend in a letter to Central Home Minister Amit Shah while pleading for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into his death.
"Rhea Chakraborty and five other persons have been charged under Sections 340, 341, 380, 406, 420 and 306 of IPC after Sushant Singh Rajput's father filed an FIR (first information report) against them. Further investigation is going on in the case," said Patna Central Zone Inspector-General of Police Sanjay Kumar.
In his complaint, Mr Singh said: "While my son was doing extremely well in Bollywood till May 2019, a girl named Rhea Chakraborty and her family members and others got in touch with him so that she could use his contacts to make a career in the film industry.
"She along with her family members, namely (father) Indrajit Chakraborty, (mother) Sandhya Chakraborty and (brother) Shauvik Chakraborty, started interfering in my son's life.
"They even forced him to move out of the house he was living in, saying that some paranormal activities were going on there, which had a big-time impact on my son's mind. They forced him to live in a resort near Mumbai airport."
Mr Singh also mentioned that Rs15 crore ($2.8 million) was transferred from Sushant's bank account to a few other bank accounts which were not linked to the late actor.
He also accused Rhea and her family members of stealing Sushant's laptop, cash, jewellery and credit cards and threatening the late actor with making his medical reports public.
Sushant's cousin and former Bharatiya Janata Party legislator in Bihar Neeraj Kumar Singh later said the FIR was filed after the family overcame the shock of the actor's sudden death.
He told IANS: "The whole family was in shock after the incident. Many things have come to our knowledge now, so we have filed an FIR."
A four-member team from Bihar Police are in Mumbai to probe the matter, which has created an upheaval in the entertainment industry.
According to timesnownews.com, the team could not find Rhea at her residence in Mumbai on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear what further action the Bihar Police plan to initiate, though there have been demands from various quarters, including Rhea, to hand over the investigation to the CBI.
Rhea, who on Wednesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the investigation from Patna to Mumbai, had earlier disclosed that she received rape and murder threats on social media over the actor's death.
Sushant allegedly committed suicide on June 14 in his flat in Bandra, Mumbai.
Mumbai Police are investigating the case and several people have been interrogated.
According to news18.com, Sushant's former girlfriend, actress Ankita Lokhande, told the Bihar Police team that the late actor was quite unhappy because Rhea harassed him.
Ankita reportedly said Sushant told her about the harassment last year.
The death of the actor has opened a can of worms in Bollywood, with charges of nepotism, groupism and lobbying flying around.
Around 40 people have already recorded their statements with the police, including director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, filmmakers Aditya Chopra, Mukesh Chhabra, Shekhar Kapoor and Mahesh Bhatt and film critic Rajeev Masand.
Rhea's statement was recorded at the Bandra Police Station on June 18, four days after Sushant's death.
Sushant made his Bollywood debut in 2013 with the movie Kai Po Che.
He was appreciated for his performances in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Sonchiriya and Chhichhore.
His last movie Dil Bechara, which was released on July 24 on Disney+Hotstar, has been praised by critics.
Indo-Asian News Service
"She (Rhea) along with her family members started interfering in my son's life. They even forced him to move out of the house he was living in, saying that some paranormal activities were going on there, which had a big-time impact on my son's mind." - Mr K.K. Singh, father of late actor Sushant Singh
