’My lunch was delayed for Shiney Ahuja’

Neighbours irritated as crowd gathers to catch a glimpse of the star at his Noida home

'My lunch was delayed for Shiney Ahuja'

Neighbours irritated as crowd gathers to catch a glimpse of the star at his Noida home

Niel Malhotra, a resident of an apartment complex at Sector 29, Noida, was in for a shock when he came home for lunch on Sunday. The usually peaceful locality resembled a bustling fairground with a burgeoning crowd of onlookers and media persons.

"My office is in Noida and I generally come home for lunch. I was working on Sunday too but when I arrived, I was flabbergasted to see such a big crowd in front of my gate. Initially, I thought I had come to a wrong address but later someone informed me about Shiney. But my lunch was delayed by an hour."

Even the guards at Church View Apartments at Sector 29, where Shiney's father owns a flat, had a tough time handling visitors. The campus was cordoned off by private security guards and no one was allowed to enter without being interrogated.

Later, as the crowd of media persons and onlookers grew, the Ahuja family had to request the Noida police to deploy force to handle the situation.

Meanwhile, relatives keep pouring in the entire day to meet Shiney. The family's 18-year-old maid Rekha too seemed busy hosting guests till late night. She said she generally left the apartment by 8 pm but on Sunday she was working till 11.

One of the security guards posted at one of the gates of the society said, "We have had a very busy day as everyone wanted to meet the actor. However, we have strict orders not to allow any strangers inside the society. One or two guards got slightly injured handling the large crowd."

Shiney's wife Anupama pics/Imtiyaz Khan

Earlier, at the IGI Airport, the actor, wearing a casual T-shirt, was received by his parents when he arrived in Kingfisher flight (No 303) from Mumbai along with wife Anupam at around 11.30 am on Sunday. He was driven straight to Noida in a Honda Civic car with an Uttar Pradesh registration number plate. Refusing to divulge much information, one of Shiney's close associates said, "He will be staying here with his parents and wife. He will also meet some of his close relatives staying in Noida. Once the trial begins Shiney will go back to Mumbai."

The 36-year-old actor, who was granted bail on Thursday on a surety of Rs 50,000 and was released from Mumbai's Arthur Road jail on Saturday, has been ordered by the court to stay away from Mumbai but not leave India till his trial begins in a fast-track court in Mumbai. Shiney was arrested June 14 for allegedly raping his teenaged domestic help at his Andheri (West) home. He was in custody since then.

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