Mumbai: Kritika Chaudhary's ex-husband held for cheating producer

Kritika Chaudhary

The complainant, Mahesh Narula

A day after deceased actress Kritika Chaudhary's ex-husband was questioned over her murder, the Amboli police arrested him in an entirely different case - on charges of cheating a film producer of Rs 55 lakh. The cops will also continue to interrogate him in connection with the murder of Kritika, whose body was found in her Andheri residence on June 12.

As mid-day had reported earlier, the accused, Vijay Dwivedi, had wooed Kritika with promises of helping her in the film industry, but she divorced him in 2012, when she learnt of his history of fraud.

Vijay Dwivedi

Khel khel main…
On Saturday, Vijay's criminal past caught up with him again, when he was arrested for a 2016 cheating case filed by a Delhi-based film producer, Mahesh Narula. Speaking to mid-day from New Delhi, Narula said, "I had made a film 'Khel Toh Ab Shuru Hoga' that was shot in Uttar Pradesh. I came in contact with Vijay through a friend. Vijay told me that he knew a politician from Lucknow and would help me get a subsidy for the film to the tune of Rs 2-2.5 crore."

"Vijay told me to go to Pune with Rs 55 lakh to give to the concerned person who would clear the subsidy. On January 20, 2016, I booked an Innova and we left for Pune.

Also read - Kritika Chaudhary murder: Mumbai cops question ex-husband of victim

Kritika Chaudhary

On reaching the spot, he asked me to wait in the car and took the cash with him. He told me that he would call me in once he had convinced the person to help me. After waiting for almost half an hour in the car, I tried calling him but his phone was switched off," recalled the 59-year-old producer.

Also read - Mumbai: Cops believe Kritika Chaudhary may have known her killer

Lights, camera, action
On entering the building, he enquired with the watchman, who said he had not seen Vijay enter the building. Narula asked to see the building's CCTV footage, which had captured Vijay walking away with the bag of cash, and then fleeing in an auto rickshaw from behind the building.

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"I figured that he had fled with my money, and I informed the police about the incident. Initially, I lodged a complaint with the Pune police, who transferred the case to the Amboli police station," Narula said.

View pictures - Kritika Chaudhary's suspicious death: What we know so far

Copspeak
DCP (Zone IX) Paramjit Singh Dahiya said, "He was arrested under Sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC."

Vijay has been remanded to police custody till June 27.