Gaurav Arya claims that he had met Rhea Chakraborty in 2017

In the WhatsApp chats of Rhea Chakraborty, the name of Gaurav Arya, who is a Goa based hotelier figured out. He was asked to join the probe in the alleged drug as well as money laundering angle that emerged in death case of SSR. He arrived at Mumbai on Sunday.

In Panaji he said that he was being framed in the case with which he had no connection, but refused to speak to Mumbai media. “I did not know Sushant personally, nor had ever met him. I had met her (Rhea) in 2017… I have no connection whatsoever in the Sushant case,” he said.

He owns the Hotel Tamarind and Cafe Cotinga in Goa. He is in Mumbai to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He will also be questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) teams in the city.

In the previous week, a team of ED visited the Hotel Tamarind in Anjuna, North Goa, looking for Arya after his name cropped in. But since the property was shut owing to the COVID pandemic restrictions, a note directing Arya to come and meet ED Assistant Director Rajiv Kumar on Monday (August 31) at 11 a.m., in connection with a case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, was pasted on the hotel doors.