Rahul’s ex-girlfriend Saloni admits assaulting Pratyusha Banerjee

New Delhi: Pratyusha Banerjee’s suicide case continues to be in the headlines. The actress has committed suicide in her Goregaon house on April 1 and since then a lot has been said about her death.

Everyday comes up with a new twist in the case. While earlier it was presumed that Pratyusha killed herself following her professional problems, later it was allegedly stated that her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh had something to do with her suicide.

While police was investigating Rahul’s role in the case, soon his ex-girlfriend Saloni Sharma’s name cropped up.

So far, it has been alleged that Rahul and Saloni together had forced Pratyusha to take the drastic step.

Though Rahul is still being probed, Saloni has finally broken her silence over the matter.

In an interview published in TOI, Saloni gave an account of what exactly had happened between Rahul, Pratyusha and her in last 10 months. In fact, she also admitted to have assaulted Pratyusha, however, she claimed that it was the ‘Balika Vadhu’ actress and Rahul who first got violent with her.

Recalling the incident of February 11, this year, Saloni stated, “I was done with them and was trying to move on but it was my money (that she had given Rahul to run an event management firm) I was concerned about. Rahul wasn't paying me back... It made me angry and I landed there to ask for my dues. On seeing me, Pratyusha and Rahul both assaulted me and physically kicked me out of the flat. I was hysterical and refused to leave the premises. So they came down and that's when I hit them back out of utter humiliation”. Saloni had even filed a complaint against Rahul and Pratyusha with the Bangur Nagar police station, but she later withdrew it.

“I later withdrew the charges of assault and cheating because both of them requested me to and I was advised by cops to avoid public attention.” It is the same cops handling the suicide case now, she said. “They are completely aware of what really had happened that evening contrary to what is going around.”

She further stated, “The reason I've remained quiet all this while is because I was waiting to give my statement to the police and I did not want to seek publicity over someone's death. At the same time, I'm forced to speak because a lot has been said about me by those who have never met me and know nothing about what went on between Rahul-Pratyusha and me. In fact, I was the one who called the police the very next day after the incident and offered to record my statement or any help they wanted from me because my name had been dragged into the case that same evening and my past was being showcased as the prime cause for the tragedy.”

Saloni also stated that it wasn’t her who came between Rahul -Pratyusha and made their relationship go sour; instead it has been the other way around.

“I've been called the 'other' woman and held responsible for Pratyusha and Rahul's relationship turning sour but not many know that Rahul and I had been together for five years. Pratyusha came into his life 10 months ago and they started seeing each other without my knowledge,” said Saloni, who had met Rahul in 2011 after she moved from Kolkata to Mumbai to complete her studies and begin a career in acting and modeling. “Rahul had an events management company and wanted me to come on board. Afterwards we launched another company. We started out as business partners and then got into a relationship. Over the years I've invested over Rs 30 lakh in the business,” said Saloni adding that “details of all the monetary transactions have been given to the police.”

It was then that she came to know about Rahul-Pratyusha’s love affair through common friends and decided to confront him.

“So I decided to confront him at his Veera Desai Road flat in July. He denied it but Pratyusha who happened to arrive just then asked me to leave him and the company. I left feeling confused and very disturbed. Rahul called me the next day, apologized and wanted me to ignore everything," said Saloni.

“Another month went by and I was in denial about their relationship, until suddenly I saw them declare their marriage plans on television during Pratyusha's birthday party on August 10,” said Saloni. “I was stunned and landed at his house the next day. Rahul refused to let me in and instead, he called my father asking him to take me away. My father came over and met Rahul, Pratyusha and her parents who were all present at the flat. On being told of their wedding plans, my father informed Pratyusha and her parents of the money he owed us and warned them that Rahul could do the same to their daughter like he had just done to me,” she recalled.

She also said that she was clueless about Rahul’s wedding in the past. While Saloni has straight away denied being in touch with Pratyusha post the incident, she is now in a mood to file a defamation case against all those who made these allegations against her.