Sushant Singh Rajput’s family demands closure on actor's fourth death anniversary

Mumbai: Coinciding with the fourth death anniversary of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor's family demanded a closure while his friends and admirers penned down their emotions.

Sushant (then 34), born 21 January, 1986, who had acted in Bollywood films such as M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Kedarnath (2018) and Chhichhore (2019), was found dead on 14 June, 2020 at his rented duplex flat in Mont Blanc building at Bandra here where he was found hanging from a ceiling fan.

Before films, he had acted in TV serial Pavitra Rishta.

Friday marked the second death anniversary of SSR, as he was popularly called - and social media platforms were flooded with obituaries and posts demanding justice for the late actor.

Sushant is survived by father Krishna Kishore Singh and four sisters - Nitu Singh aka Rani, Meetu Singh, Priyanka Singh and Shweta Singh Kirti.

In a post on Instagram, Sushant’s sister Shweta Singh Kirti said: “….four years ago on 14th of this month, we lost our dearest Sushant. Even now, we are still searching for answers about what happened on that tragic day…”

In a post on X, she wrote: “Bhai, it's been 4 years since you left, and we still don't know what happened on June 14, 2020. Your death remains a mystery. I've pleaded for the truth, but today, for one last time, I'm asking everyone who can help: don't we deserve to know what happened to our brother Sushant?”

His Pavitra Rishta co-star and former partner Ankita Lokhande Jain in an Instagram post, too remembered him. “It’s not just 15 years of Archana, it’s also 15 years of Archana and Manav, a couple who personified love, marriage, understanding and companionship. They’re perfect. They’re what we call “Goals”. They taught me what perfect marriage means. I bet there’s no on-screen couple as real, sweet and iconic as Archana and Manav, and most of its credit goes to the audience who showered so much love on us. And of course, we could create that magic because of Ekta ma’am’s trust in us. Manav completed Archana. He was, is and always will be remembered whenever Archana will be mentioned because their Pavitra Rishta was as pure as my pavitra rishta with you all! Without his guidance, I wouldn’t have become what I am today. Without Manav, there’s no Archana. As much as it’s my celebration, it’s his too. We are proud of what you’ve achieved and the acting prowess you’ve shown,” Ankita wrote.

The Bandra police station in Mumbai registered an accidental death report (ADR) in the case, however, following the first information report (FIR) registered by the actor’s father Krishna Kishore Singh in Bihar and growing demand for a detailed probe and request by the Bihar government, the Supreme Court ordered a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

On 19 August, 2020, the CBI formally took over the case and then the Enforcement Directorate (ED) joined in to probe the financial angle while the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was roped in to investigate the drugs angle.

Rajput’s family has blamed the actor’s live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, his friend and assistant director Rishikesh Pawar, house manager Samuel Miranda and house help Dipesh Sawant – and all were arrested by the federal anti-drug agency. A total of 33 have been chargesheeted by the NCB.