VARANASI: A day after Bhojpuri actress Akanksha Dubey was found dead in her hotel room in Varanasi, singer Samar Singh and his brother Sanjay Singh were booked for 'abetment to suicide'.
An FIR was filed against him under Section 306 at Sarnath police station on the complaint of Akanksha’s mother Madhu Dubey.
Holding Samar and Sanjay responsible for her daughter’s death, Madhu alleged, “Akanksha worked with Samar for the past three years but he did not pay a single penny to her. Dues on Samar had gone above Rs 3 crore. Whenever Akanksha sought her payment, Samar used to torture and thrash her and he also used to harass her whenever she tried to work with other artists”.
Additional commissioner of police Santosh Kumar Singh said, “On the complaint of Madhu Dubey, a named FIR against Samar and Sanjay has been lodged. Akanksha’s body has been sent for postmortem and a panel of doctors has been formed for the purpose”.
“Prima facie, it seems to be a case of suicide as the room of the actress was found locked from the inside when the police opened it on Sunday morning. However, all evidence from the spot has been collected scientifically. The postmortem report would also be analysed to check the possibility of external involvement,” the ACP said, adding that appropriate action would be ensured on the basis of the investigation.
Earlier, on reaching Varanasi from Mumbai, Akansha’s mother directly reached Sarnath police station. In her complaint, she alleged that Akanksha committed suicide after being tortured by Samar and Sanjay.
When reporters contacted her, Madhu blamed Samar and Sanjay for her daughter’s death.
“Samar had committed to pay Rs 70,000 to her for each album. Akanksha worked for him on scores of albums and also performed. Dues on Samar had gone over Rs 3 crore, but he did not pay even a single penny. He also used to stop Akanksha from working with other artistes,” Madhu said, adding, “Whenever Akanksha sought her payment, Samar abused and thrashed her”.
“Sanjay, who resides in Lucknow, had shown his new car to Akanksha on which she taunted that the car was bought with the income of others. Upset over this incident, Sanjay had threatened her on March 21 that she would be abducted and murdered,” Madhu claimed.
Akanksha was busy shooting in Basti when she received Sanjay’s threat over the phone, she added.
“On March 22, she reached Varanasi for the shooting of her new film,” said Madhu, adding, “Whenever I asked Akanksha to lodge a case with the police against Samar for torturing and physical assault, she avoided the topic by fearing loss of reputation".
Madhu said that she was aware of Sanjay’s threat. “On Saturday, I had talked to Akansha over the phone in the morning and also before she left to attend some birthday party. Later at midnight when she did not pick up my call, I thought she was sleeping and on Sunday morning I got news of her death".
“Everyone from the Bhojpuri industry familiar to me called me on phone after getting the news, but Samar did not,” she said and added, “If he (Samar) is not guilty, why is he absconding after Akanksha’s death".
Madhu said that she would not return home till Akanksha gets justice as her daughter was her only support.
Akanksha was found dead in her room at Sumendra Residency Hotel in Sarnath area of the city on Sunday morning. Her body was found in a sitting position on the bed with her stole (dupatta) wrapped around her neck when the door of her hotel room was broken by police at 10am on Sunday. At 2.25 am on Sunday the actress was live on Instagram sobbing. She had 1.7 million followers on Instagram.
Akanksha had checked in the hotel on March 24 with other crew members of the upcoming Bhojpuri film ‘Layak hoo..Nalayak Nahin’. Director Niraj Srivastava said, “It is a low-budget film and we were jubilant after Akanksha had signed it. We started shooting a film in the Nati Imli area on March 25. Akanksha’s shots were scheduled from Sunday morning. But, before beginning the shooting we got the unfortunate news of her death".