Court discharges suspect in drugs case linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death

A court has allowed the discharge application of an Australian national in a drugs case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput while holding that there was no material to prove his involvement.

Paul Bartels, a friend of Agisilaos Demetriades, brother of actor Arjun Rampal's partner Gabriella, was arrested on November 12, 2020. He became the first accused to be discharged in the case. All accused are out on bail.

Mahesh Jadhav, special judge for cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, allowed his application on August 9. The detailed order became available on Wednesday. The accused had sought discharge on the ground that he was arrested only on the basis of statements of co-accused Dematriadeas and Nikhil Saldhana. Nothing incriminating was found during a search conducted at his house by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), he said. There was no independent material on record to show any nexus between him and the co-accused, his lawyers said.

The NCB contended that Bartles used to purchase drugs from the co-accused, having links with actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and the late Sushant Singh Rajput. The Chakraborty siblings, also accused in the case, are currently out on bail. It further claimed that the Australian national was also connected with Anuj Keshwani from whom sizable quantities of narcotics were seized.

The court, in its order, said that besides the statements of co-accused, there appeared to be no other material to connect Bartels with the incident. "This court finds that there is no legally admissible evidence for proceeding against the applicant/accused. The statement of the co accused made during the investigation is not admissible, is not a dispute," the court said.

"As there is no material to prove the factum of actual involvement of the applicant/accused in the commission of the alleged offence, no charge can be framed against the applicant/accused," the court said. The NCB started probing alleged drug use in Bollywood and the television industry in Mumbai following the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, 34. He was found hanging in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. The CBI is probing the case pertaining to his alleged suicide.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI

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