Nitin Desai Suicide: FIR Against Edelweiss Group Chairman, 4 Others; Firm Says 'No Pressure Exerted'

The Raigad police in Maharashtra on Friday registered a criminal case against five persons of Edelweiss Group including the company’s chairman Rashesh Shah for alleged abetment of art director Nitin Desai’s suicide. Keur Mehta, Smith Shah, R K Bansal and Jitendra Kotri are the remaining four people named in the FIR.

According to the FIR copy, the victim Nitin Desai alleged that when his studio was running on top, Edelweiss offered him a big loan. The accused allegedly harassed 57-year-old Desai for loan repayment after the business collapsed post the Covid lockdown, police said, citing the complaint filed by his wife.

An FIR was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) at Khalapur police station based on a complaint filed by the deceased’s wife Neha Desai, an official said.

Art director Nitin Desai was found dead at his N D Studio in Karjat on August 2. “Today morning, Shri Nitin Desai’s body was found hanging in ND Studios. We are investigating all angles,” Somnath Gharge, SP, Raigad had said.

Desai took the names of the five people mentioned in the FIR in his audio recording and said that they wanted to usurp his dream studio.

No Undue Pressure Exerted on Nitin Desai for Loan Recovery: Edelweiss

Meanwhile, Edelweiss asserted in a statement that no undue pressure was exerted on Nitin Desai for the recovery of the loan amount and that the interest rate was also not excessive.