Former Dharmatic Entertainment employee Kshitij Ravi Prasad and Arjun Rampal's girlfriend Gabriella Demetriades' brother Agisialos were granted bail by a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court on Tuesday, 15 December. The duo were first arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a case linked to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Subsequently, they were arrested again for allegedly procuring drugs from a Nigerian national.
Now, Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Satish Maneshinde has issued a statement saying Kshitij Ravi Prasad was arrested in 'bogus' cases.
"The NCB connected Prasad to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and arrested him on 26 September 2020. He was charged under Sections 8(c) read with 20 (b) (ii) A, 27, 27A, 28 and 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985, despite the fact that there was no recovery of narcotic substances at his place save a cigarette butt that was found in a corner of his open terrace", Maneshinde said.
The lawyer also claimed that during interrogation, Prasad was forced to implicate celebrities from the film industry. "During his NCB custody, Kshitij Prasad was forced and coerced on many occasions by officers to name Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and other employees of Dharma Productions and say they were involved with drugs. As Kshitij did not know any of them, he refused to falsely implicate them. Kshitij narrated the details of these coercive tactics to both the Ld. Magistrate and the Special Judge and even filed a detailed statement highlighting the details".
Kshitij Prasad was remanded to judicial custody on 3 October, 2020 and Maneshinde said he had to face 'untold miseries' for 'narrating the truth'.
The lawyer added that while Prasad was waiting for his bail he was arrested in another 'bogus case'. "Kshitij came to be arrested in another bogus case on 4 November as he had refused to accede to the demands of the NCB. The second case was related to the alleged seizure of cocaine from one Emeka, an African national on 9th/10th October 2020, when Kshitij was in judicial custody".
Maneshinde stated,
"The NCB arrested and showed Kshitij as connected with the alleged Emeka, who was 'giving' packets to one Ali, working in the film industry and known to Kshitij. However, Kshitij and Ali had barely been in touch since March 2020 due to the lockdown. They even had a professional fallout in May this year. There was no contact between Emeka and Kshitij or anyone else involved in the case".
In his statement Satish Maneshinde alleged that Ali was forced to say he picked up parcels from Emeka to deliver to Kshitij and that Kshitij consumed the drugs. "No drugs were found in Kshitij's blood. Later, when the Supreme Court ruled that statements under Section 67 of the NDPS Act were inadmissible, a statement before a Magistrate of the said Ali was recorded on 5 November. The said statement was in the process of being recorded during Kshitij’s remand before another Magistrate in the same court premises, wherein the prosecutor sought custody of Kshitij by submitting that Ali is supporting the case of the prosecution in his statement before the Magistrate. It is clear that there was no evidence or material to arrest Kshitij".
On 26 November, Kshitij Prasad was granted bail in the Sushant Singh Rajput case but could not be released as he was still in judicial custody in the other case.
Maneshinde argued that the complaint filed on 9 November does not contain any evidence against Prasad. "There is evidence against other people who have neither been interrogated nor summoned, let alone been arrested".
Maneshinde questioned the investigation being conducted by the NCB.
After the second bail, both Demetrides and Prasad will be released from prison.