Pratyusha case: Rahul’s ex-lawyer accuses him of cheating, swindling

A day after a Mumbai court turned down TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee’s boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh’s anticipatory bail plea, his former lawyer Neeraj Gupta stepped forward with some explosive claims.

Gupta, who had backed out of the case on Wednesday citing “humanitarian grounds”, claimed that his client kept him in the dark about crucial facts. Addressing a press conference on Friday, he laid charges of cheating and swindling against Singh.

Gupta said: “Rahul was partying with a girl at the Bora Bora restaurant on March 31, a night before Pratyusha committed suicide. He even fought with the girl (there).”

He also claimed that Singh had a “modus operandi”, where he would “introduce actresses to drugs, con them and then dump them”. Gupta said Rahul had done the same to Pratyusha. Among the claims the lawyer made was that Pratyusha had injuries on her nose and cheekbones at the time of her death.

Incidentally, the police had also made a similar statement about the actress’ injuries at the time of Singh’s bail plea hearing in court. The police “had found old injury marks on Pratyusha’s body, which might indicate that she was tortured by Singh, ultimately pushing her to commit suicide”.

In the meantime, the police are also investigating the withdrawal of Rs 24 lakh from the actress’ bank account.