Bhandarkar vows to prove his innocence

The Andheri Metropolitan court issued summons to National Award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar in a 2004 rape case filed against him by an aspiring actress Preeti Jain

The Andheri Metropolitan court issued summons to National Award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar in a 2004 rape case filed against him by an aspiring actress Preeti Jain.

The court has asked Bhandarkar to appear before the court on October 18 and file his statement in the case.


No respite: Director Madhur Bhandarkar has been asked by the Andheri
Metropolitan magistrate to be present in court on October 18. File pic

Confirming the same, Bhandarkar said, "Yes, the magistrate is calling me on October 18. I shall attend the court proceedings and see what I need to do. We will challenge the judgment in the higher court. I will definitely fight it out and prove my innocence.u00a0 This case was dismissed twice by the police and I don't know how it has surfaced again."

In July 2004, Jain had made headlines all over the country when she had accused Bhandarkar of rape on the pretext of giving her a lead role in his forthcoming movie.

She had alleged that she slept with him from 1999-2004 as he had promised her a role in his films.

However, in September 2005, the police arrested Jain after she reportedly hired a contract killer for Rs 70,000 to murder the director. In January 2006, police requested the court to dismiss the case against Bhandarkar as they had found Jain's allegations to be false.

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