On 14 June 2020, Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his room in Bandra, Mumbai, aged 34.

The cause of death was ruled as suicide,[2] with official postmortem reports confirming Rajput died of asphyxia due to hanging.

At around 2 a.m. on Sunday, 14 June he made two phone calls; one to Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and another to television actor Mahesh Shetty.

[9] The Indian Express reported that the Mumbai Police said the actor had shown symptoms of clinical depression and was consulting a psychiatrist.

"[13] The final postmortem report, received on 25 June 2020, confirmed the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging and said it was a "clear case of suicide.

[17] On 15 June 2020, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh stated that the police would also probe "professional rivalry" in the film industry as the cause of Rajput's depression.

[19] On 3 August 2020, Police Commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh said investigators had found no link between the deaths of Rajput and Salian.

[21] On 25 July 2020,[22] Rajput's father, K. K. Singh, filed an FIR at Patna, where he lives, against Rhea Chakraborty and six others, including her family members, for abetment of suicide.

[25] In a petition filed at the Supreme Court, Chakraborty claimed she had no role in the actor's death and was falsely implicated by Rajput's father.

"[39] Gupta told Asian News International (ANI), "We will also examine other trace evidence preserved at the time of autopsy to differentiate between hanging and murder allegations.

"[40] On 26 August 2020, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), India's national drug law enforcement agency, registered an FIR against Rhea, her brother Showik, and three others.

[41] On 4 September 2020, the NCB arrested Showik Chakraborty and Sushant Singh Rajput's house manager, charging them under provisions of the NDPS Act.

[50] On 3 October 2020, Dr. Sudhir Gupta of AIIMS, leader of the CBI-designated forensic medical team, said, "Sushant death is a case of suicide.

[61] As of 31 July 2020[update], at least three fans had reportedly committed copycat suicide, including a 30-year-old television actor[62] and a 13-year-old girl using the same method as Rajput.

[63] Following allegations that Rhea Chakraborty was responsible for his death, some Bhojpuri songs, which abused and threatened her, became popular in his home state of Bihar.

[64] Rajput's sister Shweta Singh Kirti initiated a 'Global Prayers for SSR' campaign to urge all to collectively pray for him on 15 August at 10:00 am local time.

[65] Along with family members and fans, many celebrities include Kriti Sanon, Ankita Lokhande and Ekta Kapoor also joined in this movement.

"[69] On 5 October 2020, Mumbai Police stated that its cyber unit had identified more than 80,000 fake accounts on social media platforms from various countries in Asia and Europe seeking to discredit their ongoing official investigation.

[73] A social media study titled, Anatomy of a Rumour had found that the BJP leaders and their supporters were actively promoting the murder conspiracy theory for the death.

Newslaundry reported that BJP had portrayed Sushant as "a son of Bihar who fell victim to the big bad world of Bollywood, run by the old elite".

[74][75] Rajput's maternal uncle, alleging that his nephew was murdered, had demanded a CBI probe on the day of the actor's death.

[79] Actress and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly, in a series of tweets with the hashtag #cbiforsushant, questioned the actor's death and called for an "independent unbiased CBI investigation".

[81] On 16 July 2020, Hindustan Times reported that following Rajput's suicide, "a massive online campaign fuelled by conspiracy theories has been demanding a CBI investigation into the matter."

Actress Rhea Chakraborty, who "identified herself as Sushant's girlfriend," wrote the Hindustan Times, asked for the aid of Amit Shah, India's Minister of Home Affairs, in launching a CBI probe.

[84] On 22 July, the Twitter hashtag #Candle4SSR trended with two million tweets from Rajput's fans around the world, as part of their online campaigns demanding a CBI investigation since the actor's death.

[100] Actors Kriti Sanon, Shraddha Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Ranvir Shorey among others were present at his funeral proceedings.