Sidharth Shukla 'forcibly sent ₹20,000' to Pratyusha Banerjee's dad during lockdown

Pratyusha Banerjee's father Shankar Banerjee shared that Sidharth Shukla had been in touch with them after their daughter's death in 2016. Speaking to Aaj Tak, Shankar added that Sidharth would often message him over WhatsApp and ask if he can help them. He shared that Sidharth forcibly sent them Rs 20,000 during the lockdown. “I can’t understand how this happened. I considered him to be my son. During Balika Vadhu, Sidharth and Pratyusha had become close friends. He used to come home as well. After Pratyusha’s death, many people talked about the relationship between Sidharth and my daughter, because of which Sidharth had stopped coming home. He often asked me in messages on WhatsApp,” Shankar told aajtak.in.

“During this lockdown, he used to constantly message me. I got his last message a couple of months ago. He used to ask in the message ‘Uncle, aunty do you need help?’, ‘Are you guys fine?’, ‘Can I help in any way?’ He had forcibly sent Rs 20,000,” he concluded. Sidharth and Pratyusha featured in Balika Vadhu. The duo rose to fame with the popular Colors TV show. Later, Sidharth also participated in Bigg Boss 13 and emerged as the winner of the reality show. Sidharth died on September 2. He was 40. According to a hospital official, the actor was dead when he was brought to Mumbai's Cooper Hospital on Thursday morning. The cremation took place on Friday. Rita Shukla and Sidharth's sisters were joined by Aly Goni, Asim Riaz, Paras Chhabra, Mahira Khan, Abhinav Shukla, Jay Bhanushali with wife Mahhi Vij, Rahul Mahajan, Vikas Gupta, Abhinav Shukla and Shefali Jariwala at the cremation. An emotional Shehnaaz was also present during the late actor's last rites.