A day before he died, actor Sushant Singh Rajput had transferred funds to Raees, the caretaker of his Lonavala farmhouse, for regular expenses of Amar, Akbar and Anthony, the three pet Rottweilers he kept at the place.
"On June 14 afternoon, I saw the news that Sushant sir has committed suicide on TV news channels and at first I could not believe what I was seeing. Just a day before, he had transferred money to my account to take care of his pet dogs, Amar, Akbar and Anthony," Raees recalled, speaking to IANS.
Raees added that the late actor "was planning to shift to the farmhouse and practice organic farming".
"Sushant sir frequently visited the farmhouse. He was unwell after his Europe trip in October 2019, so he did not come to the farmhouse for almost two months. He had initially rented the farmhouse in 2018. After a year, when the time came for renewal of the contract, he wanted to buy it. He was planning to shift to the farmhouse permanently and the place was being prepared accordingly. Even though the agreement had expired in May 2020, Sushant sir had made advance payment for the months of June and July," recalled Raees.
Quizzed when Sushant had last visited the farmhouse, the caretaker revealed that the late actor was planning to stay for two to three months at the place March onwards, but that eventually didn't happen.
"Special occasions like Rhea's birthday and her father's birthday were celebrated in the farmhouse. His last two trips were in January and February this year. In January, Sushant sir came with Rhea to celebrate his birthday. They were accompanied by Samuel Miranda, Shruti Modi and some friends. Then, Sushant sir came here in the last week of February. At that time he was accompanied by Dipesh Sawant, Siddharth Pithani, Neeraj and a cook named Keshav. His March trip got cancelled," Raees recalled.
"During the January trip, they went to an island in Pavana, where Shruti's leg got fractured. Initially, we took her to a hospital in Lonavala. The following day she was shifted to Mumbai," he further said.
The caretaker revealed that Amar, Akbar and Anthony are still at the farmhouse, and are up for adoption.