Raigad police quiz Edelweiss MD, officials for 8 hours

ECL Finance Company MD and three officials were on Tuesday quizzed for nearly eight hours by the Raigad police in Maharashtra probing the alleged suicide of film art director Nitin Desai, an official said.

He said the police found the loan-related documents brought by the ECL officials incomplete and asked them to visit the Khalapur police station again on August 11. The case-related information given by them was also prima facie not in detail.

Desai, 57, who had worked for acclaimed Bollywood films such as Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar, was found hanging at his studio at Karjat in Raigad district on August 2.

The police on August 4 registered a criminal case against five persons, including Edelweiss Group chairman Rashesh Shah, for alleged abetment of Desai's suicide.

On August 5, the Raigad police issued a notice to the ECL Finance Company/Edelweiss Group MD seeking a personal appearance on Tuesday.

Accordingly, ECL managing director Phanindranath Kakarla and three other officials reached Khalapur police station, 62 km from Mumbai, in the morning, the police official said.

"The police team examined the loan-related documents brought by them and questioned them between 10.30 am and 6.30 pm," he said.

However, the police found the documents about the loan extended to the late Desai's company incomplete and the case-related information was also not in detail, and asked the ECL officials to come again on August 11 with a complete set of documents and detailed information, the official added.

The investigation officer in the case is collecting the information from the advisor, financial advisor and accountant of ND Studio, set up by the late Desai, the police earlier said.    

Desai's company ND's Art World Pvt Ltd had defaulted on a Rs 252 crore loan repayment to creditors and the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had initiated insolvency proceedings against it.

A First Information Report was registered on August 4 under Indian Penal Code sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) at Khalapur police station based on a complaint filed by Nitin Desai's wife Neha Desai, an official had said.

The FIR named Edelweiss chairman Rashesh Shah, company official Smit Shah, another person named Keur Mehta, R K Bansal of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company, and Jitender Kothari who has been appointed by the NCLT as an interim resolution professional.

Edelweiss ARC, in a statement, had denied that any undue pressure was put on Desai for loan recovery.