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Five employees of the financial group that art director Nitin Desai owed money to have been booked for abetment of suicide, two days after Desai died allegedly by suicide at his studio in Karjat. Desai’s widow submitted a complaint stating that the employees were pressuring her husband to recover an outstanding loan, leading him to take the drastic step. The case has now been registered as suicide abetment and is being investigated by the police. Desai’s firm, ND’s Art World, had taken a loan of Rs 181 crore, which had not been repaid. The Edelweiss group had initiated corporate insolvency proceedings against the firm. George Mendonca reported
MUMBAI: Five employees of the financial group that Nitin Desai, an art director, owed money to have been accused of abetting his suicide. Desai allegedly took his own life at his studio in Karjat, and his widow, Neha Desai, has filed a complaint stating that the employees of ECL Finance and the Edelweiss Group had been pressuring her husband to repay a loan. She claims that the harassment drove him to take such a drastic step. Initially, the case was treated as an accidental death, but following Neha Desai’s complaint, the police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) under sections 306 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code against the five accused employees and others. The case is now being investigated by Sub-divisional Police Officer Vikram Kadam.
Nitin Desai’s company, ND’s Art World, had taken a loan of Rs 150 crore in 2016 and an additional Rs 31 crore in 2018. Repayment had been stalled since January 2020, and the financial situation worsened due to the pandemic. The outstanding amount, including unpaid interest, totaled Rs 252 crore. The Edelweiss group had recently obtained permission from the National Company Law Tribunal to initiate corporate insolvency proceedings against ND Art World. Raigad additional superintendent of police, Atul Zende, stated that the accused employees would be summoned to the police station for questioning, and the audio clips sent by Nitin Desai to his advocate would be analyzed for evidence in the case..
