BOMBAY TIMES (October 24, 2018)

Responding to Sonal’s allegations, Raja Bajaj told BT, “My wife is into casting and I am a photographer. We would often upload casting requirements for my shoot on a particular website. Sonal called me after reading one such ad regarding a print shoot. She accompanied me as my assistant to the resort, which was more of a ruin. The model, who accompanied me to Khopoli, and was scheduled to shoot with us, was released immediately after we reached the location as she didn’t fit the bill. In fact, I asked Sonal, too, to leave with the model, but she insisted on staying back, saying that she wanted to assist me. There were hardly any rooms and, while I stayed in one room, Sonal and the others were put up in the other room. Also, why would I ask her to try outfits when she wasn’t the model? I did drink, but I didn’t go to her room, as none of the crew members were allotted separate rooms. So, the question of me going to her room in the night doesn’t arise. Also, I had a crew assisting me on the shoot. How come no one else saw what she is claiming to have happened? Everyone knew that I might leave for Mumbai the same night, as I had mentioned it at the dinner table.”

While denying Sonal’s allegations, Raja has also accused the resort manager of blackmailing him. He said, “The resort manager wanted me to shoot at the location the next day, too, but I returned to Mumbai as I was expecting another shoot to materialise. He called me the next day, which my wife answered. He told her that he wanted me to shoot the following day, but she said that it wasn’t possible, as I had work in Mumbai. However, we offered to find a similar location here and shoot for him. That’s when he started blackmailing and said that the girl, who accompanied me to the shoot, has accused me of touching her breasts. He added that he is trying to handle the situation, but won’t be able to do it for more than a couple of days.”

He further added, “Sonal came to our house on March 7 and even demanded money. She asked for Rs 3 lakh and came down to Rs 1.5 lakh. When we refused, as we knew that we were not in the wrong, she mocked us by saying that we had made tall claims, but didn’t have the money to pay her. Her friend, who accompanied her to our house, was shouting at us and wanted us to take the blame on camera. We got so tired by their accusations that we decided to go to the cops. She left for the police station after we told her that we would be approaching the cops. While she was getting her FIR registered, we, too, were getting a counter FIR registered. However, the cops did not take our version. Since we don’t understand Marathi, we didn’t realise that she had mentioned the wrong date (of the shoot) in the FIR copy.”

BT is in possession of the FIR lodged by Sonal Vengurlekar.