Mumbai: Television actor Rahul Raj Singh, who has been under the police radar since the news of actress Pratyusha Banerjee's death surfaced, has now been taken into custody for interrogation.
According to reports, Rahul told police that the two were staying together in a two-bedroom flat and that he got scared on seeing the dead body.
Rahul, a former state-level cricketer who also owns a production house, was the first person to see Pratyusha's body hanging from the ceiling fan of her flat in Goregaon West yesterday afternoon. He immediately alerted neighbours and with their help, rushed her to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
"We used to stay in a 2 bedroom flat. We had two keys; one key was with Pratyusha and the other was with me. When I entered the bedroom, I found Pratyusha hanging from the ceiling. I got very scared. Immediately, I called the neighbours and with their help, I took her to Kokilaben Hospital. We assumed that she was alive, but she was not. I got so scared that I did not inform the police. It was the hospital authorities who informed them. After the doctor’s declaration, I called up Pratyusha’s family members and few of our close friends," Rahul said.
While the location of the inquiry remains a secret, police said that they will scrutinise the CCTV footage where Rahul, according to Pratyusha’s friends, was seen slapping the actress.
A senior police official said that they are recording the statement of Rahul in connection with the suicide and also checking the last call details and the SMSes exchanged between the duo. Although Rahul was not detained, he was brought to Siddharth Municipal Hospital in suburban Goregaon where the autopsy of the actress is being conducted, police said.
An investigator said her death may have occurred around 5 pm on Friday, but details would be known only after the autopsy report is received. Singh will be taken to the flat for investigations. Police team is already searching for clues, but no suicide note has been found.
Meanwhile, Pratyusha's parents reached Mumbai this morning to take charge of her body, but details of her funeral – whether it will be performed here or her birth place Jamshedpur – are not yet known.
The glamour industry is rife with speculation about her disturbed personal life, her suspected uneasy relationship with Rahul and other aspects that may have prompted her to resort to the extreme step.
Late Friday evening, the entertainment industry was stunned to learn of the sudden demise of Pratyusha, who was renowned for her role Anandi in the TV serial ‘Balika Vadhu’ with many even dismissing it as an April Fools' joke.
Hailing from Jamshedpur, the 24-year-old actress was last seen in a role in another TV serial ‘Sasural Simar Ka’ and had earlier participated in the fifth season of the reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’, ‘Bigg Boss 7’ and hosted some episodes of ‘Savdhaan India’.
Prior to Pratyusha, several high-profile suicides of several young women rocked the entertainment capital of India, including the likes of Nafisa Joseph, Kuljeet Randhawa, Viveka Babajee, Jiah Khan, Shikha Joshi and Ruby Singh, in the past 10 years.
