India / Thackeray under pressure from Bollywood 'mafia' to derail Sushant probe: Sushil Modi

Patna: Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi has accused Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray of attempting to save people allegedly responsible for actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death under pressure from ally Congress, a party he claims has been patronizing the Bollywood ‘mafia’.

Sushil Modi also repeated his allegation that the Mumbai police was not cooperating with the Bihar police team in the city to investigate Rajput’s live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty’s alleged role in his death.

“ Uddhav Thackeray is under pressure from the Bollywood mafia patronised by the Congress, therefore he is bent on saving all those responsible in Sushant’s (death) case. How will Congress show its face to people in Bihar,” Modi said in his tweet.

Modi’s comments assume significance since Bihar is slated for assembly elections later this year and the Congress party is part of the opposition alliance in Bihar. Modi’s reference to ‘Bollywood mafia’ also reflects the popular sentiment associated with a campaign started after Rajput’s death against alleged culture of nepotism in the Mumbai film industry, which purportedly blocks outsiders like Rajput from progressing in their careers.

On Friday, Uddhav had defended Mumbai police’s investigations and asked anyone with evidence in Sushant case to come forward. He also urged against using this case as an “excuse” to create friction between Maharashtra and Bihar.

“Mumbai Police is not inefficient. If anyone has any evidence they can bring it to us and we will interrogate and punish the guilty. Please do not use this case (Sushant Singh Rajput death case) as an excuse to create friction between Maharashtra and Bihar,” Thackeray was quoted as saying by ANI.

However, Sushil Modi has said that Rajput’s case is not the first instance of alleged discrimination against Bihar. He tweeted to say that there were attempts to block the return of migrant workers from the state from Maharashtra during the lockdown.

“Complaints of ill-treatment of people from Bihar also used to be received earlier but the current Uddhav government, surviving on the crutches of Congress and NCP support, has crossed all limits. During lockdown, attempts were made to stall the return of labourers from Bihar,” Modi alleged in another tweet.

Quite tellingly, Modi also described Sushant SIngh Rajput as a “son of Bihar” while accusing Mumbai police of not cooperating with Bihar police.

Modi said that almost all parties are in favour of a CBI probe in the case, which has been opposed by Maharashtra government.

A budding actor, Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra flat on June 14. It was suggested to be a case of death by suicide but soon allegations started to surface indicating he could have been driven to take his life due to circumstances including stalling of his movies by big production houses in Bollywood.

While Mumbai police has been questioning film personalities in its probe, Sushant’s family in Patna filed a case of abetment of suicide against Sushant’s live-in-partner and actor Rhea Chakraborty, accusing her of mentally harassing Sushant and of diverting Sushant’s money among other allegations. The family has also accused Mumbai police of attempting to derail the probe by focusing on Bollywood biggies instead of Rhea. The family is also opposing Rhea Chakraborty’s plea to transfer case filed against her in Bihar to Mumbai.