Nitin Desai dies: Initial post mortem report out; last rites to take place at ND Studios | UPDATES

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar demanded to investigate whether there was any pressure from the institutions giving loan to art director Nitin Desai for recovery.

On the other hand, Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the special team of police will investigate the suicide from all the angles.

Sources said that the first sentence recorded in Desai's sound recorder was 'Laalbagh ke Raja ko mera antim pranam.' According to police sources, a total of 11 audio clips recorded by Art Director Nitin Desai have been received by police from ND Studio which will now be analyzed and based on which further investigation will be done. According to sources, when Nitin Desai went to ND Studio at night, he told one of his employees that no one should roam around his bungalow.

Also, he asked that the audio or sound recording he has done should be heard and given to his sister. Nitin Desai has mentioned some of the names in the audio clip. And police will be investigating it.

(Inputs by Suraj Ojha)

Raigad Superintendent of Police (SP) Somnath Gharge said, "a post-mortem examination of Desai's body was conducted at state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai and as per the autopsy report, the death was caused by hanging."

The post-mortem examination was conducted by a team of four doctors, he said, adding the body will be handed over to the art director's family on Friday when his son will arrive from the US, claimed news agency PTI. 

Police found some audio notes in a voice recorder and they are being examined with the help of cyber forensic experts. Nitin Desai, who came to the studio after Tuesday midnight, had asked one of his employees to visit the facility in the morning to collect the voice recorder. The employee (Yogesh Thakur), a local resident and a friend, came to the studio on Wednesday morning (August 2) and went to the place mentioned in the voice recorder where he found Desai hanging, he said.

According to the sources, "The employee later handed over the voice recorder to police, said the official. The noted art director was found hanging at the centre stage of a mega floor inside the studio, a prominent place where most of the shows were conducted. An eyewitness told reporters at the site that at the centre stage of the mega floor, he saw bow and arrow made with the help of a rope. Desai was found hanging with the rope on the centre stage, where the set of talent show 'Marathi Paul Padte Pudhe' was also created."

The art director used to stay in a bungalow inside the sprawling studio.

India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma paid tribute to the late art director Nitin Desai, who died by suicide on August 2. He was 58. The senior journalist shared a video where he mentioned Nitin's connection with India's most popular news show 'Aap Ki Adalat'. In the video, he shared how after launching the India TV channel, he decided to create a dedicated set for the famous show, for which he contacted Nitin Desai. 

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The entertainment industry is mourning the demise of four-time national award-winning art director Nitin Desai. He was found dead in his ND studio in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Wednesday. According to police, Desai’s body was found hanging in the Studio in Karjat. He was known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He worked with directors like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Nitin worked as an art director in movies such as ‘Devdas’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai’, and ‘Panipat’, among others. He had won three Filmfare Awards for Best Art Direction and four National Film Awards for Best Art Direction.