A 21-gun salute by the Raigad police to the departed soul

Mumbai: Two days after art director Nitin Desai died allegedly by suicide at his sprawling studio in Karjat, five employees of the financial group he owed money have been booked for abetment to suicide.

His widow Neha Desai has submitted a written complaint to police alleging that employees of ECL Finance and the Edelweiss Group were pressuring her husband to recover an outstanding loan. Her complaint says Desai was fed up with the harassment and hence took the drastic step of ending his life. In all, Desai owed Rs 252 crore.

The Khalapur police had recorded an accidental death case. In the wake of her complaint, police have registered an FIR under IPC sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (acts by several per-sons in furtherance of common intention) against the five accused staffers and others, said Raigad police.

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Mumbai: Film art director Nitin Desai’s firm ND’s Art World, which managed his studio, took a loan of Rs 150 crore in two instalments in 2016 and Rs 31 crore in 2018. Repayment had stalled since January 2020 and the pandemic had worsened the firm’s financial situation. The amount that was due included unpaid interest. In all, recovery due was Rs 252 crore. The National Company Law Tribunal in Mumbai had recently allowed a petition by the Edelweiss group to initiate corporate insolvency proceedings against ND Art World.

On Thursday, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had told the Maharashtra assembly that Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company's role in the incident would be probed.

The suicide abetment case is now being investigated by Vikram Kadam, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Khalapur.

Raigad additional superintendent of police Atul Zende said, “As part of the investigation into the abetment of suicide case, the accused will be summoned to Khalapur police station by the investigating officer for recording their statements.”

Zende added, “Before committing suicide, Nitin Desai sent 11 audio clips to his advocate Vrunda Kumbhar. We are awaiting the forensic lab report of those audio clips to verify his voice, which will provide vital evidence in the case.”

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The Raigad police on Friday said they have booked four officials of Edelweiss group for allegedly harassing and mentally torturing art director Nitin Desai, leading to his suicide. They will now be summoned for questioning, cops added. The FIR has been filed under IPC Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) at Khalapur police station based on the complaint lodged by Nitin’s widow Neha Desai.

“According to the written complaint given by Neha Desai, both the companies consistently mentally tortured Nitin Desai. The torture led to the suicide of the Nitin Desai,” Superintendent Somnath Gharge of Raigad police said.

Those booked are—Edelweiss Finance CEO and Chairman Rashesh Shah; Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) officials Keyoor Mehta, Smit Shah and R K Bansal; and Jitendra Kothari, an insolvency professional appointed by the NCLT, Mumbai.

“...soon the COVID-19 pandemic hit the entertainment industry and shoots were stalled. Nitin Desai knew this will lead to defaults and pilling up of interest. He contacted the borrowers and asked about a one-time settlement,” states the FIR. Nitin was ready to pay the settlement amount, but Edelweiss ARC kept postponing their meetings, according to the FIR.

“Nitin begged for settlement, but without intimating him, Edelweiss ARC went to NCLT and even to Raigad collectorate,” it adds. In 2019, Nitin sold is Powai office to pay off six months of EMI, according to the FIR.

Nitin’s company ND’s Art World Pvt Ltd had mortgaged a total of 43 acres of land, on which his ND Studio stands, and borrowed R185 crore through two loans from ECL Finance in 2016 and 2018. ECL Finance is a non-banking finance arm of the Edelweiss Group.

Later on, Art World’s debt was transferred to Edelweiss ARC, which had appealed in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvency. Edelweiss had sent a proposal to the Raigad collector to seize the mortgaged land. The proposal has been pending before the collector for the past two months. Desai had named the officials in a voice note he had left, accusing Edelweiss ARC of trying to usurp his studio. 

It is alleged that on July 29, Jitendra Kothari told Nitin’s lawyer and Neha that he is sending his bouncers to “to look after” N D Studios.

Nitin told his wife that no new assignments are coming to the studio because of all this and hence they have incurred a loss of Rs. 100 crore, according to the FIR.