The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest till April 18 to TV producer Rahul Raj Singh, who has been booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of his girlfriend and television actress Pratyusha Banerjee
In a relief that came five days after the Suburban Dindoshi court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, Justice Mridula Bhatkar of the high court also ruled that in the event of Rahul’s, he should be released on a bond of Rs30,000.
The Judge directed Rahul to appear before the Bangurnagar police station in north Mumbai from Wednesday onwards till April 18 between 11 am to 1 pm.
The high court was hearing Rahul’s anticipatory bail application.
Rahul’s lawyer Abad Ponda said his client was currently in hospital and the copy of FIR had not been furnished to him yet. However, police has filed a report before the court.
The court then perused the FIR, in which the investigators have among other things alleged that Rahul, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in suburban Goregaon, would assault her. He used to not only borrow money from but also would withdraw huge sums of money from Pratyusha’s bsnk account.
On April 1, “Balika Badhu” fame Pratyusha (24) was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her seventh floor flat in Harmony residency building at Goregaon in north Mumbai, She was taken by Rahul to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital, where she was declared dead on admission later that evening.
Rahul, whom the investigators see as a logical suspect in the case, had come under the intense scanner of the police for his strained love relationship with Pratyusha.
The post-mortem, conducted on Pratyusha’s body, had initially ruled out any foul play in the actress’ alleged suicide. However, on April 5, the Bangurnagar police went ahead and booked registered a case against Rahul under sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Earlier, during her arguments before the Dindoshi Sessions court, lawyer Falguni had questioned the very conduct of Rahul, after he found his girlfriend hanging from a ceiling fan at her Goregaon fat.
“After finding Pratyusha hanging from a ceiling fan, why did Rahul take Pratyusha all the way from Goregaon flat to Kokilaben Hospital at Andheri instead of a nearby hospital. Why did he flee from the hospitalIJ. Why didn’t Rahul call police or take picture of the body before untying it from the fanIJ” Falguni had asked.
Meanwhile, Rahul continues to be at Shree Sai Hospital at Kandivli, where Rahul is undergoing treatment for hypertension and low blood pressure.
Pratyusha’s parents had last week accused Rahul of having “mentally and physically” tortured his daughter. “Pratyusha wanted to get married. But, unfortunately she met a wrong guy in Rahul. Rahul is a fraud and he has destroyed many lives. We don’t want him to harm anyone else. She was tortured mentally and physically and was very scared,” Pratiyusha’s father Shankar Banerjee had said, adding that Rahul and his father were managing Pratyusha’s finances.
“Rahul should be hanged or given life sentence and made to suffer for his entire lifetime. I have heard he destroyed many girls’ lives,” Pratyusha’s mother Soma had said.