Art Director Sapte Suicide: Wakad Police Arrest Main Accused Labour Union Leader Maurya

Mubarak Ansari

Pune, 15th July 2021: Pimpri Chinchwad Police have arrested labour union leader Rakesh Maurya for allegedly abetting suicide of art director Rajesh Maruti Sapte (51).

The accused had threatened him and demanded extortion for his projects, said Senior Police Inspector Dr Vivek Muglikar, in-charge of Wakad police station.

Police said that Maurya was going to district court in Shivajinagar for anticipatory bail. However, he was nabbed before that in Pimpri.

Sapte was found hanging at his residence in Tathawade on July 2. He had released a video of harassment before taking the extreme step.

Based on a complaint from his wife, an FIR was registered at Wakad police station. The accused persons named in the FIR are Naresh Vishwakarma (Mistry), Gangeshwar Srivastava (Sanjubhai), labour union leader Rakesh Maurya, Ashok Dubey and Chandan Ramkrishna Thakre (36), all residents of Mumbai.

Till now four accused have been arrested including Thakre and junior artist coordinator Deepak Uttam Kharat (37) of Goregaon, Mumbai.

According to police, Thakre was the business partner of Sapte and duped him in various projects. The other accused demanded Rs 10 lakh extortion money besides Rs one lakh for every project. They had also forcefully taken Rs 2.5 lakh from him.

In the video, Sapte can be heard saying, “My name is Raju Sapte and I am an Art director. I’m making this video to the best of my knowledge. For the past few days, I’m being harassed by Rakesh Maurya of the labour union. I have paid all my dues to the labourers. Maurya is putting hindrance to my work by provoking the labour and inciting them against me. Even after paying all the dues to the labour people, Maurya is not letting me do my work. This has put most of my projects on hold. Currently, I have five projects in my hand. But Maurya is provoking labourers against me, because of that, I can’t start any work. Most of my projects are stuck and as a protest against this, I am committing suicide today.”

Police have charged the accused persons for offences under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 306 (abetment of suicide), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation), 384 (extortion), 385, 386 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Assistant Police Inspector Lohar is further investigating the case.

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