Nitin Desai Death: Police summon Edelweiss company MD with loan documents

In a major  development in the Nitin Desai suicide case, Raigard Police has summoned the Managing Director (MD) of Edelweiss company and sent a notice on Saturday. In the notice, the police have also asked to bring all the official documents regarding the loan given to the late art director. Edelweiss' MD has been asked to appear on Tuesday for investigation in the case along with all the required documents. On Friday, the Raigarh Police booked five in the Nitin Desai suicide case including officials from the ECL Finance Company and Edelweiss. A case was also registered against these five under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (common intention).In the notice issued by the Raigarh Police, ECL Finance Company/ Edelweiss Group's MD has been to appear on August 8 at 10 am before the inquiry officer at the Khalapur police station. In the investigation, Edelweiss' MD will be interrogated regarding the Nitin Desai case along with the company's rules and policies on providing loans and its recovery. Till now the police are taking complete information from ND Studio Legal Advisor, Finance Advisor, and Accountant in this matter from taking the loan to repaying it and going to court. So far, the statements of 15 people have been recorded by the police in this case.
Nitin Desai was ready to repay the loan amount all at the time. But despite his meetings with Edelweiss company, he was not giving the answer whether he would be able to pay or not. The family has also alleged that the Edelweiss Company wasted time in such meetings waiting for interest on the loan amount and when the interest became excessive, they moved to NCLT court.

Nitin Desai was upset after the NCLT court order against him. Accusing the company of repeatedly pretending to talk, the family said the company only harassed them without ever trying to find a solution. Jitendra Kothari was appointed by the NCLT Court as the Insolvency Professional in this case. But it is alleged that Kothari along with the other accused hatched this conspiracy.Mansi Desai, daughter of art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai, who allegedly died by suicide at his ND Studio in Maharashtra Karjat on Wednesday, issued a statement on Saturday saying that her father had no intention to cheat anyone."My father had no intention to cheat anyone and he was going to make all the payments that he promised. Due to the pandemic, there was no work and the studio was closed. And due to this, he was not able to make his regular payments," she told news agency ANI.Mansi also revealed that her father had borrowed a loan of ₹181 crore from a company, out of which he had repaid ₹86.31 crore."The loan amount was ₹181 crore, and we already made a payment of ₹86.31 crore. We made all the payments in Feb 2020. Then they also wanted a six-month interest which my father paid by selling his office in Powai. He had no intention to fraud anyone and he was going to make all payments that he had promised," she added.Nitin Desai's daughter also urged the Maharashtra government to take cognizance of the matter and take charge of the studio.Nitin Desai was found hanging at his ND Studio in Karjat. He has worked as an art director in movies like '1942: A Love Story', 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', 'Devdas', 'Lagaan', 'Jodhaa Akbar', 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo', 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbai', 'Dostana', 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai', 'Munnabhai MBBS', and 'Slumdog Millionaire'.