Raigad police in Maharashtra on August 4 registered an offence against five persons including officials of ECL Finance and Edelweiss Group for alleged abetment of art director Nitin Desai's suicide.
A First Information Report was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) at Khalapur police station based on a complaint filed by Desai's wife Neha Desai, an official said.
Her husband was facing repeated mental harassment in connection with the loans his company had taken and he committed suicide because of it, the complaint alleged.
Desai, who had worked for acclaimed Bollywood films such as Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar, allegedly hanged himself at his studio at Karjat in Raigad district on Wednesday.
Also read | Post-mortem report confirms art director Nitin Desai died due to hanging
His company had defaulted on a ₹252 crore loan repayment to creditors and the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had initiated insolvency proceedings against it.
Desai's company ND's Art World Pvt Ltd had borrowed ₹185 crore through two loans from ECL Finance in 2016 and 2018, and troubles with repayments started from January 2020. ECL Finance is a non-banking finance arm of the Edelweiss Group.
Those who require assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts may contact Aasra (022-27546669) or the Vandrevala Foundation (18602662345/18002333330).
