A local court here today convicted actress Preeti Jain and sentenced her to three years in jail for plotting to kill filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar in 2005.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on her for planning to eliminate Bhandarkar, against whom she had earlier registered a rape case.
The court also sentenced two of her associates, identified as Naresh Pardeshi and Shivram Das to three years on charges of conspiracy.
Besides, two others who hail from Uttar Pradesh were acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence.
Jain was arrested for giving contract to underworld don-turned-politician Arun Gawli for killing Bhandarkar. According to police, the actress had even paid Rs 70,000 as part of the payment.
The matter gained media attention when Gawli’s aide Bagawe, a lawyer by profession, approached the police.
In her police complaint, Jain had alleged that Bhandarkar had raped her on the pretext of giving her role in his films.
The spat between Preeti Jain and Bhandarkar began in 2004, when the former filed a complaint with the Versova police station, alleging that the film-maker raped her 16 times between 1999 and 2004 on the pretext of marrying her.
After Bhandarkar was granted anticipatory bail, Jain feared that she would lose the case and plotted to have the filmmaker killed. The Mumbai police initially suspected underworld don Arun Gawli’s involvement in the case. However, they let him off after failing to find evidence.
Jain allegedly paid Gawli’s aide Naresh Pardeshi Rs75,000 to kill Bhandarkar. Jain reportedly asked for the money to be returned when the plan didn’t work out.
Pardeshi’s friend Shivram Das had arranged for a man from Uttar Pradesh to carry out the murder. They were caught when the conspiracy unravelled.
