Showik Chakraborty and Sushant Rajput's house manager allegedly bought drugs from Zaid Vilatra (File)
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which started probing the drugs angle into the Sushant Singh Rajput case last week, has drawn links between his girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty's brother, Showik, and alleged drug dealer Zaid Vilatra, who has been arrested.
Officials of the anti-narcotics agency recovered from Vilatra's possession foreign currency (USD 2,081, 180 British Pound, 15 dirhams) and Rs 9,55,750, which it said are "proceeds of drug peddling".
"Vilatra disclosed that he runs an eatery in Bandra, which was not giving any pecuniary gains since the lockdown. He also disclosed that he peddles drugs, especially bud (curated marijuana), through which he used to earn a substantial amount of money," the NCB told news agency PTI.
According to sources in the agency, 20-year-old Vilatra allegedly supplied cannabis to Showik Chakraborty and Mr Rajput's house manager Samuel Miranda, who were introduced to each by another middleman Abdel Basit Parihar, 23.
Parihar is currently being interrogated by a team of the Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai and is expected to be arrested later in the day, a top source in the agency said.
Mr Chakraborty and Mr Miranda are expected to be summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau next, the official said, adding that investigators have found chats between Parihar and Mr Chakraborty related to purchase and use of cannabis.
"Parihar was picked up based on information by Vilatra. Abbas Lakhani, who was arrested last week along with Karan Arora for allegedly trafficking drugs, led the probe team to Vilatra," the NCB official said.
Some more drug peddlers based in Maharashtra, Delhi and Goa are also under the agency's scanner, they said.
The Narcotics Control Bureau started looking into the drugs aspect of the case related to Mr Rajput's death after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) flagged chats between Ms Chakraborty and Goa-based hotelier Gaurav Arya about banned narcotic substances, including cannabis.
In an interview with NDTV, actor Rhea Chakraborty said she has "never consumed drugs in her life" and claimed she tried to stop Sushant Singh Rajput from consuming marijuana.
Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his apartment on June 14. Rhea Chakraborty, 28, her family and others are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the ED and the NCB over Mr Rajput's family's allegations that she mentally harassed the actor, stole crores from his bank accounts and had a role in his death.