A special under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act on Wednesday rejected bail to Siddharth Pithani, Sushant Singh Rajput’s flatmate, in a drugs case linked to the Bollywood actor’s death in June 2020. Pithani was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on May 28 this year from Hyderabad and he is currently in judicial custody.

He has been charged under section 27 (A) (financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, among other charges. Pithani had asked bail claiming that he had been framed up in a false case. He was never found in mastery of any drugs and nothing that could hint he was involved in drug trafficking was recovered from him, the bail application said.

But special public prosecutor Advait Sethna clarified that incriminating photos, videos and other material were collected from Pithani’s cell phone which revealed that he used to get drugs in large quantities when he stayed with Sushant. Special judge V V Vidwans rejected the bail plea after hearing the arguments. Following Sushant Singh Rajput’s alleged suicide at his Mumbai residence, the NCB began a probe, based on some WhatsApp chats, into alleged drug supply rackets in the film industry. The Central agency also arrested several people including Rajput’s girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty. Most of those arrested are out on bail.

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