Why did no one break open the door? Why was Dipesh Sawant seen with a bag? Why was evidence tampered? These are some of the questions that Ankit Acharya, former manager of Sushant Singh Rajput, has raised while questioning the accountability of the house staff present at the time the Bollywood star died.

On June 14, Sushant was found dead in his home in Mumbai. At that time, Mumbai Police called it a case of suicide, and started investigating what drove the actor to take his life. Since then, many conflicting theories have emerged, adding a mystery angle to his death.

“I don’t want to blame anyone but it should have been the responsibility of the present staff to know the whereabouts and activity of Sushant on June 13 as well as June 14,” Acharya told IANS.

“Why didn’t anyone go and check on him, or try to reach him from 10am till 2pm on June 14? Why didn’t they break open the door? It was their responsibility. Why did they call a keymaker instead of getting four or five people to break open the door? One could have replaced the door, maybe his life could have been saved. And then they touched the body and the evidence. It was the police’s responsibility to bring down the body and take care of it. Why did they tamper with the evidence?” he continued.

According to Acharya, the people present in the house should have felt something amiss if Sushant was inside in his room for so long.

“Where were Siddharth Pithani and Dipesh (Sawant) in that time frame? Why didn’t they go and check on him? Why was Dipesh roaming around here and there with a bag? Was it to hide evidence? Bahut gadbad hai (Something is very fishy here),” he shared.

Trashing the depression theory, Acharya said: “He was not in depression. Yeh ghumane wala kahani hai (this is a story to divert attention). Rhea (Rhea Chakraborty) is saying he got depressed after he saw some paintings in Europe. How is this possible? He was a painter and used to paint quite often.”

Acharya was referring to reports that claimed that Rhea had reportedly told the Enforcement Directorate officials that Sushant developed a psychological problem on seeing some paintings in the hotel room during their Europe trip last October.

Acharya worked as Sushant’s personal assistant from July 2017 till July 2019.

Asked about Rhea’s entry in his life, he said: “I guess he started dating Rhea in the April of 2019. When I was there, she never came to his house. They started going to each other’s houses after I left.”

Talking about Sushant’s will to work hard and live, his former manager said: “He was not someone who would commit suicide. The person who tells others to work hard, struggle and move ahead in life — how can that person commit suicide? I am talking about his nature in real life, not reel life or his movie ‘Chhichhore’. He used to advise people not to give up, and just move ahead and struggle — chaahe marr marr ke saamna karo,” he added.

Sushant’s family has lodged an FIR accusing his girlfriend, actress Rhea, and her family with abetment to suicide among other charges. The late actor’s family, friends and well-wishers have also demanded a CBI investigation into his death.

With people getting together to demand justice, Acharya is confident that the reality will come out soon.