The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which has been probing the Bollywood drug nexus following the untimely death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput has launched a manhunt after assistant director Rishikesh Pawar went missing. Rishikesh used to be a staffer of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He had also been named by the house manager of the late actor, Dipesh Sawant, in his statement to NCB and it was alleged that Pawar supplied drugs to Rajput in his last days.
According to NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede: “The search for Rishikesh Pawar is going on. He was an assistant director in Sushant Singh Rajput’s Dream Project. Many evidences have come out, in which it is clear that Rishikesh Pawar used to supply drugs to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. NCB has seized a laptop from Rishikesh’s house, in which some data has also been found. NCB summoned Pawar many times but he has not appeared. Now that his anticipatory bail petition has been dismissed, NCB has planned to apprehend him”.
Rishikesh Pawar went missing after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected
On September 12, 2020, CBI had summoned Rishikesh Pawar and then he was handed over to the NCB. In his statement, Dipesh Sawant had said: “During that period I never brought Ganja for Sushant Sir, but one of my colleague Rishikesh Pawar used to bring Ganja for Sushant sir.”
Pawar had earlier moved court seeking anticipatory bail fearing arrest. On Thursday, special NDPS court Judge V Vidwans rejected his bail application. Thereafter, the NCB official went to his house but did not find him there. “Yes, we are looking for Rishikesh Pawar,” said NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, adding that NCB wanted to question him from the very beginning but he had been non-cooperative and skipped many summons. “This further strengthened our suspicion about his role in the case,” said Wankhede.
Pawar, a resident of Chembur, worked as an assistant director in Rajput’s dream project. Though he had been fired, he continued to visit the actor, said NCB officials, adding they want to interrogate him about it.
NCB probes drug angle in the death case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput
NCB had got involved in the death case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on August 26, 2020, after a drug angle emerged in the case during the probe. Since then, it has arrested as many as 27 people in connection with the drug case linked to the actor’s death. Moreover, it has interrogated many Bollywood celebrities including Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Rakulpreet Singh and Arjun Rampal in its effort to bust the Bollywood-drug mafia nexus which runs deep in the film industry allegedly linked with underworld gangs.
