Terming the voluminous 12,000-page charge sheet filedagainst Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and 31 others as"expected", their lawyer Satish Maneshinde launched a sharp attack onthe Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), virtually accusing it of a witch-hunt, hereon Saturday.
"All efforts of the NCB have been directed towards RheaChakraborty, to somehow rope her in. The entire NCB, from top to bottom wasengaged in unearthing the drug angle in Bollywood," Maneshinde said.
"The charge sheet is a damp squib standing on thefoundation of inadmissible evidence and statements recorded under NDPS Act Sec.67 even after the Supreme Court judgement in the Toofan Singh case. WithoutRhea Chakraborty being charged, this case has no substance," Maneshindesaid.
Referring to the NCB' contentions in the charge sheet thatit has seized various narcotic drugs (Charas, Ganja, LSD, Ecstasy) andpsychotropic substances (Alprazolam and Clonazepam), the lawyer rubbished thefederal drug agency's claims.
"The entire amount of 'Narcotic Substances' recoveredagainst the 33 accused are nothing compared to what even a Constable in MumbaiPolice or Narcotics Cell or the Airport Customs or other agencies recover fromone raid or trap," Maneshinde pointed out.
Moreover, he said there's hardly any material against anyknown faces, who were paraded during the investigations, and wondered whetherthe allegations were false, or "only God knows the Truth".
The lawyer added that even the Bombay High Court did notfind prima facie material at the stage of bail of the 'alleged' financing ofdrugs trade, as claimed by the NCB.
Maneshinde's strong reactions came a day after the NCBlodged its charge sheet -- a 11,700-page plus more in electronic format -- withthe Special NDPS Court in Mumbai, signalling an end to the probe.
The NCB came into the picture in August 2020 after theEnforcement Directorate (ED) stumbled on the drugs aspect of its probe into thefinancial angles surrounding the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajputon June 14 at his rented duplex in Bandra, Mumbai.
Besides Rhea and Showik, the NCB has named the late actor'sex-manager Samuel Miranda, his domestic help Dipesh Sawant, a drug peddler AnujKeshwani from whom commercial quantity of drugs like LSD sheets and Marijuana)were first recovered.
Also figuring in the charge sheet are two foreigners --actor Arjun Rampal's South African girlfriend and model Gabriella Demetriades,her brother Agisilaos Demetriades, besides Kshitij Prasad, a former executiveproducer with Dharma Productions, and two collegians, said to be the last-milepeddlers.
"We will have the last laugh Satyameva Jayate," anunfazed Maneshinde concluded.