MUMBAI: As the Bombay high court is set to decide on Monday whether Rahul Raj Singh can be arrested for allegedly abetting his late fiancée Pratyusha Banerjee’s suicide, his family and friends have been busy doing some investigation of their own.
Rahul’s kin have collated documents and photographs to argue that he and Pratyusha were in a happy relationship and had planned to get married. Among the documents put together by Rahul’s family are receipts for the remuneration that the couple received to jointly appear on a reality show. “Rahul accepted only Rs 10,000 and let Pratyusha have the remaining Rs 2.37 lakh as she was in need of money. Pratyusha had taken loans from at least three banks and an individual,” said actor Sahila Chaddha, a family friend. She added that the couple had partied at a resort in Malad a couple of days before Pratyusha’s death on April 1 and had also inaugurated a restaurant. “We have receipts from the resort,” Chaddha said. “Pratyusha met me on Holi on March 24 and I had asked her to approach me without hesitation if Rahul ever gave her trouble. But she told me she was happy. When she had lodged a
police
complaint against her former boyfriend for threatening her some years ago, wouldn't she have gone to the cops against Rahul if he was assaulting her lately?” Chaddha asked.
The police will oppose Rahul’s anticipatory bail plea in the high court and mention reasons why his arrest is necessary.
"For the past five days, Rahul has been questioned for two hours each at the police station. But he hasn't said anything incriminating. We want to probe whether Pratyusha left behind a suicide note and if there's a possibility of Rahul's having destroyed it. We also need to find out what was the trigger for the suicide? Rahul had spoken to Pratyusha on the phone before she took her life. What was their conversation about? For these reasons, Rahul's custodial interrogation is necessary. Basic questioning is not sufficient," a police official said.