TOI:Rahul's former lawyer is now in support of Pratyusha Banerjee
Neha Maheshwri | TNN | Apr 9, 2016
The latest twist in the Pratyusha Banerjee alleged suicide case is that her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh's former lawyer, Neeraj Gupta, has decided to file a petition against him if the investigation doesn't shape up as it should.
"Rahul can't escape. There is evidence against him," says the lawyer. Neeraj adds he didn't want to defend the actor-producer on moral grounds. He elaborates, "I was with Rahul throughout to ensure that his interest as my client is protected. He told me that he and Pratyusha were happy together and she had even ordered a wedding lehenga three days before the incident. He also said that she was out of work for about a year and her parents had blown up all her money. She was in a lot of debt as they had taken a loan on high interest rate in her name. As a result, she was under tremendous stress and allegedly committed suicide due to the same reason."
Neeraj adds, "When I took up the matter, I realised that the entire television industry was against him. However, the news of his marriage, child and illicit relationship with Saloni Sharma surfaced later. This was contrary to what I was told by his family. They had said he is a bachelor. I also realised that Rahul's story about not being in contact with Saloni since his break-up wasn't true either. Even now, they are in touch with each other. Apparently, she was present at the hospital where Pratyusha was admitted. She called his aunt after he was admitted to the hospital. I advised Rahul's family to avoid her calls as it would have had an adverse effect on the case. But they continued to speak to her in private. Rahul had also told me that he and Pratyusha were partying with a common friend the day before she committed suicide, but at the hospital, he gave me a different version. He said that he had invited friends over to finish some leftover alcohol from the Holi party. I realised that he was lying and warned him that it would affect the case. When I confronted his father about Rahul's marriage, he admitted to it later after feigning shock. He dismissed it by saying the girl was not good enough and avoided the question pertaining to Rahul's son. I wanted to file an FIR, but when it became apparent that they kept lying, I decided to opt out of the case. It was a call of the conscience."
Ask him if he was paid his fees and Neeraj replies, "Though I reminded Rahul and his family several times to give me my advance fee, they kept dilly-dallying. In fact, I ended up spending from my own pocket."
Speaking of Rahul's financial status, the lawyer says, "He was not doing anything. He bagged his last show because of Pratyusha. The police must investigate the loans taken by her and the number of accounts she had. They should find out who made monetary transactions from her accounts and who was the actual beneficiary. While Pratyusha's parents believe that he was possessive, that's not the truth. He wanted her off his back. She got so deeply involved with him that she cut herself off from the world. She got into addictions. Perhaps when she realised that he was planning to leave her, she felt that there was nothing left in her life. Had her career been going well, she may have sustained." As for Rahul's health condition, he says, "He was unwell on April 2, but I can't say anything about his health today."
Meanwhile, Rahul's father Harshvardhan says, "Neeraj was never appointed by us to fight the case and there has been no documentation. In fact, he made us meet Ashok Saraogi, who is our lawyer. We are grateful to him for standing by us those few days and arranging our stay at his office. He was also there with us at the police station, but there has been no involvement in the case at his end. We are upset with him for giving statements on our behalf to the media. He is probably seeking publicity out of the case. We have been refraining from commenting on the case or anything as advised by our lawyer."
Talking about the next step after the court rejected Rahul's plea for anticipatory bail, he says, "We will now appeal to the Bombay High Court as and when advised by Saraogi." Regarding Rahul's health, he says, "He is still in the ICU and the doctors have advised him rest."
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