'Mungerilal' arrested at rly station as wife, his companion slug it out

MUMBAI: It was a morning of high drama at Mumbai Central station on Friday when the actor Raghuvir Yadav, best known for his role as Mungerilal in the TV serial Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne, was detained by the GRP when he disembarked the Rajdhani Express.
There was an arrest warrant for the elusive actor, who, for the last eight months had failed to turn up for court hearings where his wife Purnima has been unsuccessfully seeking maintenance for herself and their son Achal.
In a twist of fate, Purnima had boarded the same train at Delhi, and spotted her husband with his present companion, Roshni Achreja. After allegedly failing to make a quick escape at Mumbai Central, Yadav agreed to be detained, but not before what onlookers described as a catfight erupted between Purnima and Roshni. An onlooker, describing the fight that unfolded when the two women came to face-to-face, said: “They were pulling each other’s hair and hurling abuses.’’
On Thursday night, Purnima called TOI from the train and said: “My husband Raghuvir is travelling in the same train with Roshni. I have been trying to contact the police but nobody seems to respond. Can you please help me?’’ She also identified the coach and seat numbers of her husband.
She added: “At night, I spotted Roshni returning from the washroom and followed her to see if Raghu was also there. Once I saw him, I spoke to almost all the passengers in my compartment about my case requesting them to help me get him arrested by the police.’’
When the train pulled into Mumbai Central station the next morning, all the passengers got off and waited outside, wondering how their once favourite TV character would extricate himself from this situation.
The couple, however, almost managed to flee the scene, claimed Purnima: “While I went to enlist the help of the railway police, Raghu and Roshni ran out of the station, and were getting into a waiting taxi. We got into a scuffle; he even abused me. But the railway police were very helpful after I filed an application requesting their assistance.’’
A GRP official said that Yadav was taken to the police station around 10.30 am. “He told us that he had been staying in Jabalpur for the last few months.’’ Purnima has been fighting a case against Yadav seeking maintenance, and on September 19, the family court issued a warrant against Yadav for failing to appear despite summoning him. He had since then gone underground.
Yadav and Purnima tied the knot in 1988 but separated in 1996 after the actor filed for divorce in Jabalpur. He was asked to pay a maintenance of Rs 20,000 per month, a sum the high court later brought down to Rs 10,000, said Purnima. She claims that she’s yet to see a single paisa. “Until 2007, I had a job with the National School of Drama, but now I am making ends meet by conducting workshops. I live in a rented place in Kandivli. Raghuvir isn’t even ready to help his son. When Achal went to him asking for help with his career, Raghuvir said he would do so only if I dropped the case against him,’’ said Purnima.
GRP senior inspector Bharat Rane said: “Purnima approached us on Friday morning with a complaint against Yadav. She told us that a warrant was out against him but we couldn’t just arrest him without any official documents, so we detained him and confirmed with the Dindoshi police that there was indeed a warrant for his arrest, issued by the family court.’’
Yadav was escorted by the GRP to Dindoshi police station; Roshni chose to accompany him. “We gave him an option of paying a bond, but he couldn’t shell out the money. He was taken into custody and will be produced before the family court on Saturday,’’ said senior inspector V Kakade, Dindoshi police station.