Who benefitted from Sushant Singh’s death?: Unravel the ‘international’ conspiracy

Sushant Singh ‘Rajput’ was one very lucky young man or at least he should have been one. At the age of 34 he was successful. His bank balance had deposits upwards of Rs 20 Crores since media reports suggest that CBI has conducted forensic audit of transactions worth Rs 70 Crores. He should have also been a very happy young man because he had a house, friends, possibly a loving family and at least one live-in girlfriend. He had leisure, he could travel abroad on holidays and judging by reports he could afford to spend Rs 55 lakhs on lavishing gifts on his live-in girlfriend and pay for her travel and visits to the spas. How many young Biharis or indeed how many young Indians can hope for such a dream run at such a young age?

He was also popular and had a growing fan club. If he was a struggling actor, harassed by snooty film mafia and established producers, his bank balance did not reflect it. There was no reason why such a man should have taken his own life. At the age of 34 a man is expected to take responsibility for his life and actions. So, if he kept bad company, allowed himself to be manipulated by girlfriends and took to drugs without people close to him cautioning him, he had only himself and his ‘Karma’ to blame.

Reports now reveal that it was his live-in girlfriend who took him to psychiatrists for consultation and for medication. He was lucky that she cared for him enough to find a cure for him. It seems he was diagnosed as suffering from a condition known as Bipolar Disease, which makes victims swing from one mood to another. Did he suffer from paranoia as well? Did he believe, as some victims of the Bipolar disease appear to do, that the world was conspiring against him? We may never know the answer. But it is worth keeping in mind that he was not the first successful man to have committed suicide; nor was he the first successful actor to have done so. In both Hollywood and Bollywood, otherwise successful actors have lapsed into depression, paranoia and worse and have surprised their fans by the inexplicably violent act of ending their lives.

However, it is no longer the actor’s death which demands our attention. It is the ‘international conspiracy’ following his death that deserves a closer look. What made TV anchors throw caution to the wind and cry murder? Assuming they are all fond of murder mysteries, they failed to address the two crucial elements involved in murder, namely the motive and the opportunity. Assuming Sushant Singh Rajput was the golden goose and was being exploited by everyone around him, there should have been a strong motive to keep him alive, not kill him.

That there was a conspiracy is now evident following reports that as many as 80,000 fake social media accounts were created in June this year to seek ‘justice’ for Sushant Singh Rajput. The accounts were used to spread the narrative that Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra Government were complicit in protecting the alleged murderers. Many or most of these accounts seem to have originated in foreign countries. Such proliferation of bots or genuine accounts would have required considerable expense and expertise. It would also have required a high degree of planning and coordination.

What is more, if so many fake accounts could come up overnight following an actor’s suicide, one can only imagine what is in the realm of possibility when the stakes are higher and involve elections. While across the world there is rising concern over misuse of social media platforms to interfere in elections, in India there seems to be complete indifference to the threat. Neither the Election Commission of India nor the Judiciary have displayed the slightest concern at the aberrations. It is therefore likely that the inquiry into these bots and fake accounts will be restricted to Mumbai Police and it will be naïve to expect much headway.

The conduct of the media, politicians and the judiciary, not to speak of central agencies, following the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput reflects poorly on them with none of the pillars coming out, smelling of roses. That is the reason why an expeditious and independent inquiry appears unlikely at this point of time.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is still distributing badges in Bihar with the late actor’s smiling face; nor is it clear if the strategy of making political capital out of his suicide will work in the assembly election. But while shrill TV channels and irresponsible political parties may now fall silent, we must not allow people to forget the lessons.