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.

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.

Model-turned-independent artist and songwriter Apernah Dubey, 28, who has alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a dozen influential people including a celebrity photographer, author and others over a period of years, said she has been struggling to get an FIR registered with Mumbai police.

With Dubey resorting to legal action, one of the people accused by her, Sheel Gupta, allegedly threatened her on WhatsApp. Dubey claims she is receiving ‘death threats’ from international numbers.

Dubey had approached Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone X in Andheri East on May 10 where she submitted a 13-page complaint letter naming celebrity photographer Colston Julian and others as accused. mid-day had published a report on the same on May 11.

“I was called to Andheri police station and my statement was recorded on May 18 but the FIR was not registered,” Dubey told mid-day.

An officer from Andheri police said, “The complainant has accused many people of raping and molesting her at different locations in Mumbai and other states. She also claims to have been sexually abused abroad.

“But most of the sexual harassment incidents, according to her complaint letter, have taken place in Bandra West. So after recording her statement at Andheri police station, we have sent the details to Zone IX in Bandra for further action.”

Dubey said that she underwent mental trauma during 2012-19. “I could not muster the courage to approach the police as the accused are influential. I thought of continuing my work but when I started to raise my voice against their misconduct, the group of harassers started to malign me.”

“They tarnished my image in Bollywood and I stopped getting good assignments. I slipped into depression,” she added.

“One of the accused spiked my drink with cocaine at a party and sexually abused me when I was high. Some of them also molested me,” Dubey claimed.

“Whenever I tried to raise my voice, these people would gang up and in some cases, I had to partially succumb and allow them to sexually abuse me,” she added.

“I am firm about bringing them to book but the police are delaying registering of the FIR for reasons best known to them,” Dubey added.

“I have received death threats from the people I spoke against in my compliant letter. I emailed Zone IX for an update on my complaint and statement but there has been no response yet,” she said.

According to Dubey, the death threats started after she uploaded a copy of her statement on Instagram. One accused also sent her a legal notice. “The gang is digging out my details from my hometown, Lucknow,” she added.

Calls and messages to DCP Zone IX Abhishek Trimukhe went unanswered. While Gupta declined to comment on the matter, Ravina Rajpal, legal counsel of photographer Julian said, “We wish not to comment any further on the underlying publicity agenda behind these false accusations. We request the media to let the law take its course.”