Actor Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde today thanked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after it filed a closure report in the death case of Sushant Singh Rajput.

Mr Maneshinde, a senior lawyer at the Bombay High Court, in a statement said the CBI has thoroughly investigated every aspect of the case from all angles and closed it.

He blamed false narrative on social media and electronic media as one of the reasons why Rhea Chakraborty went through “untold miseries” and even spent 27 days in jail “for no fault of hers”.

The CBI gave its findings before a special court in Mumbai, which will decide whether to accept the report or order further probe. The CBI absolved everyone – including Rhea Chakraborty, her parents, and brother – named in two first information reports (FIRs) filed in the case.

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, 2020. He was 34. The CBI took over the case from the Bihar Police, which filed an abetment to suicide case based on a complaint by his father in Patna, KK Singh.

In its conclusive medico-legal opinion to the CBI, forensic specialists at AIIMS dismissed claims of “poisoning and strangling” made in the case.

“The amount of false narrative in social media and electronic media was totally uncalled for. Due to the pandemic, everyone was glued to TV and social media in the absence of anything happening in the country. Innocent people were hounded and paraded before the media and investigative authorities,” Mr Maneshinde said in the statement.

“I hope this does not repeat in any case… Rhea Chakraborty [had to] undergo untold miseries and was behind bars for 27 days for no fault of hers until Justice Sarang V Kotwal released her on bail. I salute her and her family for having kept silent and yet suffering the inhuman treatment they were meted,” the senior lawyer said.

“… I must say nothing deterred us from carrying out our legal duties. Today I can share that I’m proud to have defended a fauji family pro bono and that should rest with the kind of speculative narration about my fees. I also thank a large section of the media for having supported me and Rhea’s cause and her fight for justice,” he said.

During the course of investigation, the CBI recorded the statements of Rhea Chakraborty, and others in Sushant Singh Rajput’s close circle, and also collected the actor’s medical records.

In his complaint to the Bihar Police, Sushant Singh Rajput’s father alleged that Rhea Chakraborty and her family members misappropriated his son’s money. She refuted the allegations many times.