MUMBAI : Two days after the death of renowned art director Nitin Desai, the Raigad police registered a case of abetment of suicide against five officials of Edelweiss and ECL Finance, including Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO of Edelweiss group.
The FIR also named chief risk officer of ECL Finance Smit Shah, R.K. Bansal from Edelweiss ARC, insolvency professional Jitendra Kothari, and Keyur Mehta. The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint by Desai’s wife Neha Desai.
Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge said that Desai’s wife told the police that officers from Edelweiss and ECL Finance had been harassing her husband over a loan he had taken.
“His wife alleged that Desai took the extreme step due to the mental stress caused by the officials. Accordingly, we have registered the case of abetment of suicide against five officers.”
The death of the award-winning art director came a week after a tribunal ordered bankruptcy proceedings against his company ND’s Art World Pvt. Ltd on a plea by Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd after Desai’s company failed to repay a loan amount of ₹252 crore.
The five officials have been booked under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. Initially, an accidental death report (ADR) had been registered in the case. The abetment of a suicide case is now being investigated by deputy superintendent of police (Khalapur) Vikram Kadam.
Desai, who would have turned 58 on 9 August, took his life on 2 August at his studio. He had left 11 audio notes in the voice recorder, which the Raigad police have seized and sent to forensic experts.
Hours before he was found dead in his studio, Desai recorded an appeal to the Maharashtra government to take it over and use it for the benefit of art and artists instead of allowing it to fall into the hands of financial institutions.
In a statement, Edelweiss ARC said, “Edelweiss ARC followed all legal processes as mandated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and has not acted in any manner outside of the legal framework. Neither was the interest rate charged excessive nor was there at any time undue pressure being put on the borrower for recovery. We respect the need for the authorities to inquire into such tragic events and will cooperate fully with the enquiry process. Nitin Desai’s death is a big loss to the Indian film industry and the art world that no words can express. We pray for his soul and offer our heartfelt condolences to his family and the staff of ND Arts.”
The last rites of Desai were conducted on Friday at ND Studio, Karjat. Earlier, his mortal remains were kept at the Diwan-E-Aam area at the studio, where hundreds of people paid their respects. Many from the film fraternity were also present. Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar also paid their respects.
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Updated: 05 Aug 2023, 12:14 AM IST