Three years after investigating a high-profile rape and molestation case filed against top Bollywood personalities including photographers and actors, the Bandra police filed a closure report citing various reasons including the ‘inconsistency’ in the allegations made by the complainant who is a model-turned-independent artist and songwriter.

A total of 12 people, including film photographer Colston Julian, Anirban Blah, founder of talent management company Kwan Entertainment, actors Jackky Bhagnani, Krishan Kumar, Nikhil Kamat, Sheel Gupta, Ajit Thakur, Gurjot Singh and Vishnu Induri, were booked on May 26, 2021 by the Bandra police.

In May, the Bandra police filed  an ‘A summary report’ and closed the case. An officer, who studied the case thoroughly, told mid-day that "Most of the time she remained unavailable despite sending her summons to join us in the investigation. We had also requested her to submit her mobile phone, but she did not give it to us for forensic analysis,” the officer said.

“We had to investigate with the vague details she had mentioned. For example, the year was mentioned, but not the exact date and time; the area of the alleged offence was mentioned, but not the precise location where we can go to enquire and collect evidence. Our officers faced a lot of difficulties because of non-cooperation on the part of the complainant,” said a senior officer of the Mumbai police.

One of the men named in the FIR told mid-day that his life and career were ruined for no fault of his own. “I don’t want to be named but this case has ruined me to the core and tore me into bits and parts from within.” He added, “People stopped giving me work as someone had called and informed about the case to the brands I was associated with. The situation was so bad that my school friends had stopped talking to me.”

In May 2021, the model-turned-independent actor first approached the office of deputy commissioner of police, Zone 10 with her complaint against the list of high-profile men. Since the allegations were serious in nature, the zonal DCP asked an officer attached to the Andheri police station to record her statement.

She had alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a dozen influential people including a celebrity photographer, author and others over the years from 2015 to 2021. Since the complainant had claimed that most of the alleged incidents took place in Bandra, the entire matter was transferred to Bandra police station where the cops registered an FIR on May 26.

The 28-year-old model, who had filed a rape and molestation complaint against nine Bollywood biggies, has reported theft of her pen drive containing evidence related to the case, along with other items. Andheri police on Tuesday filed an FIR in connection with the robbery of her two pen drives, jewellery and a wrist watch.

An officer said an FIR has been registered against an unknown person under Section 380 (theft in a dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code.

“In one pen drive, I had stored important pieces of evidence of the ongoing case against the nine high-profile men of Bollywood. In the second pen drive, I had stored the backup of my iPhone that I had sent for repair,” she told mid-day. “The pen drives were kept inside a pouch of branded sunglasses. All the items were kept in a bag,” she added.

While the FIR stated that the collective loss in the theft was of Rs 31,000, the survivor claimed, “The police have undervalued my belongings. The total loss is R1 lakh.” “I learnt about the missing articles only on July 25, and after a thorough search of my flat, I filed a complaint,” she said.

The rape survivor said, “I think someone is trying to destroy the evidence. One of the accused in my first FIR at Bandra police station, Sheel Gupta, has been threatening me via messages, saying how much he knows about my life and what he can do. He’s probably suffered the biggest loss because of the allegations, that’s why he wanted revenge that bad on behalf of everyone.”

She also claimed that someone tried to hack her social media accounts as she kept blocking users sending her threat messages on Instagram.

In connection with the sex assault case, police have made no arrest as yet. Bollywood photographer Colston Julian, Kwan Entertainment founder Anirban Blah, actor Jackky Bhagnani and Krishan Kumar of T-Series are among the accused named in the FIR.

A Mumbai model, who registered a rape and molestation case against nine high profile men from Bollywood at Bandra police station in May, claims she has been getting threat messages on Instagram. The woman has said the accused should be held responsible if ‘anything unnatural’ happens to her before the case is concluded. It had taken the woman three weeks to get an FIR registered against Bollywood photographer Colston Julian, founder of Kwan Entertainment Anirban Blah, actor Jackky Bhagnani and Krishan Kumar of T-Series.

The woman told mid-day that she is being gang-stalked by fake Instagram accounts, allegedly created by the accused. “I have blocked hundreds of fake accounts and have reported some as they had rather explicit pics and wordings as well as triggering usernames like @bitchurdead887, @terimaak231__ or something like @bulletzngunzz,” she said in an Instagram post.

The woman added, “I told the investigating officer regarding the death threats being sent after I registered the FIR against these high-profile men. He suggested I visit the nearest police station to register a fresh case. But I am not willing to visit the police station again as it took me weeks to register the first FIR and none of the accused has been arrested till now.”

“I have no other enemies in the world other than these accused,” she said.

“One of the accused, Anirban Blah, approached the sessions court seeking anticipatory bail but it was rejected on July 5. The police have not arrested him yet. I don’t know in what direction the investigation is going,” she added.

The other accused in the case include Nikhil Kamat, Sheel Gupta, Ajit Thakur, Gurjot Singh and Vishnu Induri. The FIR was registered on May 26.

“I had to delete my Facebook account and remained off Instagram for two years but they never gave up gangstalking me,” the woman told told mid-day.

The investigating officer, Assistant Police Inspector Sagar Nikam of Bandra police, said, “Anirban Blah’s bail was rejected only because the police objected to the application of the accused. We have been following all the legal procedures before nailing the accused.”

“Also, Blah is not in Mumbai. He is somewhere in Hyderabad. We have sent him a notice through email. So far, we have recorded the statements of five accused in the case,” Nikam said.

The investigating teams have also visited all the crime spots mentioned in the woman’s statement, said Nikam, adding, “We have recovered CCTV footage from a few locations. So far, statements of around 20 people have been recorded.”

Nikam added, “We have been requesting the survivor to cooperate with us in the investigation.”

Regarding the death threats, Nikam said, “I have told her to approach the nearest police station to register a fresh FIR.”

Another senior officer from Bandra police told mid-day that police officers are not being dispatched to another state to arrest the accused over COVID-19 fears. “If the offence is fresh and heinous, we send our officers immediately to arrest accused hiding in other states. But this case is different as the offence took place a long time ago. So, our officers have been collecting all the electronic evidence and recording statements of people connected with it,” the senior officer said.

Actor Jackky Bhagnani, Bollywood photographer Colston Julian and Kwan Entertainment founder Anirban Blah

On May 10, a 28-year-old model-turned-independent artiste and songwriter approached the police alleging that she had faced sexual harassment and physical assault at the hands of a dozen men from showbiz over the years. As per a report, the woman had approached Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone 10, Dr Maheshwar Reddy, who directed an officer at Andheri Police Station to record her statement. After her statement was recorded on May 18, the matter was forwarded to Zone 9 DCP office in Bandra, as most of the alleged incidents of sexual abuse had taken place in its jurisdiction during 2013-2019.

An FIR in connection with the complaint has now been registered, and nine high-profile men have been named in the case. Among the accused named in the FIR are photographer Colston Julian, Kwan Entertainment co-founder Anirban Blah, actor-producer Jackky Bhagnani, Krishan Kumar of T-Series, Aha CEO Ajit Thakur, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamat, producer Vishnu Induri, Sheel Gupta and Gurjot Singh.

On April 12, the model took to her social media handle and wrote a long post, in which she gave an account of the abuse she allegedly faced over the years. Talking to Bombay Times, she says, “These incidents took place over a span of four years from 2013 to 2019. I have accused 11 people, but the police have registered an FIR against only nine of them, stating that they can’t register a complaint about incidents that have taken place outside Mumbai.”

She adds, “I met DCP Zone X Dr Maheshwar Reddy on April 1 and thought that I would be able to register a complaint, which will be converted into an FIR immediately, but it happened only recently (May 26).”

Talking about her complaint against Colston, she alleges, “I had been with him briefly from 2014 to 2015. During that time, he abused me physically, hit me, and raped me. I severed all ties with him and even blocked him from everywhere. However, he got in touch with me via email in March 2017, after almost seven months. He called me to his residence for a photoshoot, which he had promised on our first meeting. He tried to kiss me and get intimate with me again. When I pushed him away, he hit me and slapped me hard a couple of times. I fell, and my head hit the wall. I somehow managed to get out of that place. I was in tears and in complete shock at what he tried to do with me.”

“Ajit (Thakur) tried to molest me at a party. They didn’t think I would proceed with my complaint. They wanted me to take down my posts. In April Ajit told me that my Bollywood career would be over and I would be abandoned, nobody would work with me if I went ahead with my posts on social media,” she alleges.

Talking about the others she had named in the FIR, she claims, “I knew Krishan Kumar from before. I had first met him at his office. Later, he invited me to a restaurant at Kamala Mills. He tried to kiss me outside the restaurant, but I managed to push him away. He offered to drop me home and kissed me forcibly near my residence.”

She alleges, “In 2018, I had attended a party at Jackky’s residence, and he told me that he would like to show me his house. He took me to a different floor, it was dark, and he made a lewd suggestion… I refused and left immediately.”

After the model approached the police in May, photographer Colston Julian denied the accusations in a social media post. “Dear all. It has come to my notice that a social media post and news article with entirely false and spiteful accusations, are making certain claims against me. My lawyers are following the official process and are responding to the situation legally (sic),” he wrote.

On Colston’s behalf, his lawyer Ravina Rajpal told BT, “It is a false case, we will cooperate with the authorities concerned in all ways possible. The matter is pending investigation and is sub judice. We are also exploring legal remedies including defamation in due course.”

In 2018, Anirban Blah was accused of seeking sexual favour from several women. Subsequently, as per reports, he had to step down from the board of trustees of Kwan, the talent management company he had co-founded. When BT reached out to Anirban regarding these new allegations against him, he answered the phone but said that he doesn’t talk to the media.

Ajit Thakur had also resigned from his post as the content studio head at Reliance Industries in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him. He is currently the CEO of Aha. About the current allegations against him, his legal counsel on his behalf stated, “The allegations made are false, malicious and motivated. It is nothing more than an attempt to smear my reputation. In fact, I have evidence, which indicates that the complainant was attempting to blackmail myself amongst several others and when her attempts failed, she resorted to registering an FIR with baseless allegations. I will take all the necessary legal action against her and I am certain that truth will prevail.”

Responding to the accusation, Krishan Kumar of T-Series says, “This is all bullshit! It has been over a year that she has been threatening me and blackmailing me, asking for money. I have all her chats from the first day up to April 2021. I have also recorded her a few times when she tried to say things on the phone. When the police calls me, I will give all the evidence to them and they can figure out who is right and who is wrong. I will bring it out in the media also eventually. I want people to know how some people are taking advantage of others nowadays. A girl has the right to go to the police and state what she wants, I appreciate that, but some people take advantage of this right. I am not talking about all, but some people do. I have all the proofs. I met her for the first time at a friend’s party and I must have met her twice or thrice in my life.”

Till the time of going to press, Jackky Bhagnani did not respond to our calls or messages.

Bandra police have filed an FIR in connection with a complaint of rape and molestation filed earlier this month by a model-turned-independent artist and songwriter. They have booked nine high-profile people in the case.

Bollywood photographer Colston Julian, founder of talent management company Kwan Entertainment Anirban Blah, actor Jackky Bhagnani and Krishan Kumar of T-Series are among the accused named in the FIR.

“Police have registered an FIR after so many days of submitting my complaint letter against the high-profile people, but none of them have been arrested yet,” the woman told mid-day.

The woman had, on May 10, approached Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone 10, Dr Maheshwar Reddy, who directed an officer at Andheri police station to record her statement. Her statement was recorded on May 18 and the matter was forwarded to Zone 9 DCP office in Bandra, as most incidents of alleged sexual abuse on her had taken place in its jurisdiction during 2012-2019.

mid-day was first to highlight the woman’s mental trauma as her application was moving at a snail’s pace. In a social media post she had shared that after filing a police complaint, “I started to get death threats from one of the accused.”

The investigating officer has recorded a detailed statement of the survivor. The FIR was registered under Sections 376 (n) (commits rape repeatedly on the same woman) and 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code on May 26.

“Why are the police further delaying the arrest of the accused? I have submitted all the pieces of evidence that I have against these accused,” the woman said.

Inspector Sagar Nikam told mid-day that the veracity of allegation levelled against the accused is being verified. “We have registered the FIR based on her complaint. We are in the process of collecting the pieces of evidence that the survivor claims to possess against them. Our investigations are underway.”

The woman also told mid-day, “In a bid to conduct panchmana, one woman police officer took me to the locations where these accused sexually abused me in Mumbai. It seems that Colston Julian has gone underground as his Bandra house was locked and his car was also not there when we visited. Bhagnani is somewhere in foreign land and he is expected to reach Mumbai in September.”

In a letter dated May 10, model Apernah wrote to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X, MIDC, Andheri East) seeking an FIR against well-known photographer Colston Julian, alleging sexual harassment and physical assault. This comes on the back of Apernah’s social media post on April 12, in which she spoke at length about how she was physically and emotionally abused by Julian during a work assignment. 

The model reveals that her first interaction with the photographer dates back to 2015, when she was based in Bengaluru. “Colston was my friend on Facebook. I got an e-mail from his company regarding a casting opportunity. That assignment didn’t work out because I was too young. After checking out my portfolio, he volunteered to shoot me. At 19, I was excited that he saw promise in me. But the story changed soon after. We met [in Mumbai] in February 2015, and by April, he had started forcing himself upon me. He would constantly try and get physical. I was with Inega [Model Management] then and wasn’t getting much work. He would slap me around, demoralise me by saying, ‘Get rid of your mole, your features are not looking good’. He was emotionally and physically abusive, and would try to crush my confidence,” she recounts.

Apernah says that these incidents made her see through his manipulative tactics, and after an argument in 2016, she blocked him from her social media accounts. “He sent me an email to build bridges,” she shares, adding that he would “bully her” into talking to him. 

However, things came to a head during a shoot in March 2017. “He agreed to do the shoot to fulfil the promise he had made when we had first met. Back then, he had promised to feature me in his upcoming shoots. I went to his place late in the afternoon. He kept chit-chatting and avoiding work, [finally beginning the shoot hours later]. In the middle of the shoot, he came up and tried to kiss me. I, in no uncertain terms, told him to stay away. That’s when he got wild and slapped me. My head hit the wall and I fell on the floor. I realised that he may hit me further, so I screamed. That scared him. I pushed him away, screaming, ‘How dare you hit me’, all the while crying and shaking. I was bruised, and only I know what it took for me to get out of his place. His main door has seven locks.”

Since the incident, Apernah cut off all ties with the photographer, who she claims used to drive by her house and call her at odd hours to patch up. The two briefly crossed paths at the 2018 GQ Best Dressed Men party. She is apparently not the only model to have had such a traumatic experience with the photographer. A successful model who graduated to movies said she had a toxic equation with him. mid-day spoke to another model repped by Inega Model Management, who also alleged that Julian used similar tricks on her. Both refused to come forward with their stories. 

mid-day sent a detailed text to Julian, which remained unanswered till press time. 

Dr Maheshwar Reddy, zonal deputy commissioner of police, said, “I’m not aware of the complaint letter that has been submitted before my office. If it is submitted today, it will come to my table tomorrow morning. Legal action will be taken against the accused if the complaint is related to sexual harassment.”

With inputs from Diwakar Sharma