A Narcotics Control Bureau officer on Friday said that Rhea Chakraborty used to procure drugs through her brother Showik and supply them to her boyfriend and actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

“Showik Chakraborty’s name came up during the interrogation of alleged drug peddler Basit Parihar, a resident of suburban Bandra,” the official added.

This statement comes weeks after the Sonali Cable actor and her brother Showik were arrested on the grounds of drug trafficking by the NCB. Chakroborty submitted a 47-page bail application to the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, stating that no female officer was present while she was being interrogated and no trace of any drugs were found on her, amongst other charges.

The NCB has been probing the drugs case related to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and an alleged nexus between Bollywood and drug peddlers.

“The probe into drugs angle of the Rajput death case led the bureau to the discovery of several “linkages” or drug supply networks. Parihar allegedly revealed that he used to procure `bud” (a curated form of marijuana) and weed for his friend Showik.”

“During questioning, Showik accepted that he used to procure weed and bud through Parihar and Kaizan Ebrahim and pass them to his sister Rhea who gave it to Sushant,” the official said.

The probe kicked off when some WhatApp conversations about drugs came forward during the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) discovery. The ED was pursuing money laundering charges against Rhea and her family.

“Based on network analysis undertaken on technical level, the linkages were explored and one of the nodes of the drugs network was busted on the intervening night of August 27 and 28,” the official said.

Bandra Eatery owner Zaid Vilatra was held and Rs 9.55 lakh, USD 2,081, 180 British Pounds and 15 Dirhams were recovered from his possession. Zaid allegedly disclosed that these were proceeds of drug peddling. He also said that his eatery business suffered greatly during lockdown, so he took to peddling drugs, mainly bud.

Rhea and Showik are now in judicial custody alongwith other arrested accused.

“The NCB has so far recorded statements of Bollywood talent manager Jaya Saha, Rajput’s former manager Shruti Modi, producer Madhu Mantenna, fashion designer Simone Khambatta actor Rakul Preet Singh and actor Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash,” the source added.