Mumbai: Politician arrested, TV-actress detained after diamantaire found dead
The death of diamantaire Rajeshwar Udani in Mumbai has led the police to arrest a politician and detain a prominent television actress, officials said on Saturday. The politician has been identified as Sachin Pawar, a former member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the actress is Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who shot to stardom after playing Gopi Bahu in soap Saath Nibhana Saathiya. Here's more.
57-year-old Udani went missing on November 28, and his family approached the police. They launched a search operation and Udani's phone was traced to Rabale, Navi Mumbai, before losing signal. After he remained untraced till December 4, police registered a kidnapping case. Later, his heavily decomposed body was found on December 5. His clothes and shoes helped his son identify the body.
Udani's driver told police he had asked to be dropped at Pant Nagar market after which he got into another vehicle. Police believe the murderers killed him at some other place and dumped the body at Panvel forest. Call records of Udani revealed he was a regular at some bars and was in touch with some women in the entertainment industry.
Udani knew these women through Pawar, who is a former aide of Maharashtra Minister, Prakash Mehta. Mehta admitted that Pawar was close to him from 2004 to 2009, but he severed all ties with him. Pawar was sacked from BJP after he fought BMC election as an independent candidate. Till now police have questioned nearly two dozen persons and further investigation is underway.
While police remained tight-lipped on Devoleena's role they hinted other actresses from the industry could be summoned for questioning. They are also tracing the vehicle which came to pick the victim after his driver dropped him.
Maharashtra:TV actors Devoleena Bhattacharjee Sachin Pawar today appeared before Pant Nagar Police station to record their statements in connection with the death of a businessman in Navi Mumbai. The businessman was missing since November 29 his body was recovered yesterday. pic.twitter.com/TrbpjUSB7L
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2018
