Maharashtra: Accused in art director Raju Sapte's suicide case held for extortion in Pune

This picture has been used for representational purpose

A person accused in the case of suicide of Marathi art and film director Raju Sapte was arrested from neighbouring Pune district of Maharashtra on charges of extortion, police said.

The accused, Gangeshwarlal Shrivastav, had secured anticipatory bail in the case of Sapte's death, but was taken into custody at Pune's Wakad police station on August 15 after he appeared there to mark his attendance in the wake of his bail condition, a police official said.

On July 31, a labourer lodged an FIR with Dindoshi police in Mumbai against Shrivastav and three others - Rakesh Maurya, Rajesh Anubhave and Ashok Dubey - alleging that they were not paying his dues worth around Rs 2.5 lakh and instead, asking for money to release the payment and threatening him, he said. The Dindoshi police had later nabbed Anubhave, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-12), Mumbai, DS Swami said, "We got a tip-off that Shrivastav was likely to come to Wakad police station in Pune for attendance, hence we laid a trap and nabbed him. He has already secured relief in the case of Sapte's death, but he has been arrested by Dindoshi police in the extortion case."

Sapte, who had worked as an art director for movies like ''Ambat Goad'' and ''Manyaa the wonder boy'', allegedly committed suicide at his house in Pimpri Chinchwad township of Pune district last month. Before taking the extreme step, Sapte shot a video in which he named a person associated with a labour union, whom he claimed had harassed him.

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In the video posted on social media, Sapte said he had been facing some issues for a few days and was being harassed by the person, who was deliberately asking some labourers to spread the wrong message regarding payment defaults on his part, though he had no dues.

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