Mumbai: Actress Malaika Arora’s stepfather Anil Mehta allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of a building in Bandra area of Mumbai on Wednesday morning. A police officer gave this information. The officer said that Mehta (62) jumped from the sixth floor of a building named ‘Aisha Manor’ located in Alameda Park area of Bandra at around nine in the morning. He lived here with his wife. He told that Malaika was in Pune at the time of the incident. The officer said that a team of Bandra police reached the spot and took him to the hospital, but the doctors at the hospital declared him brought dead.
Without giving details, the official said that just before committing suicide, Mehta had called Malaika Arora and her sister Amrita (who is also an actress) and said that he was “sick and tired”. He said that when Mehta committed suicide by jumping from the building, Malaika Arora’s mother was in her flat on the sixth floor of the building. The official said that the exact reason behind the suicide is not yet known. He said that Mehta was the stepfather of the Bollywood actress.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 9) Raj Tilak Roshan told reporters that prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide. He said that a team of Bandra police along with forensic experts is present at the spot. According to DCP Roshan, “The police will investigate the incident from all angles and take the legal process forward. Whatever standard operating procedure (SOP) is followed in the investigation, we are following it.” Another officer said that the police is also recording the statements of Mehta’s relatives and people living in the building as part of the investigation.
According to the official, the police conducted a panchnama (inspection) of the spot and collected evidence. As a part of procedure, they also made a video recording of the premises of the building where Mehta’s body was found. He said that the police also scanned the CCTV footage of the building to gather information about the incident. According to the police, Mehta’s post-mortem is being conducted in a hospital.
Meanwhile, a source told PTI-Bhasha, “It is true that Malaika’s stepfather died this morning. He did not commit suicide, it was an accident. Everyone is shocked because he did not have any disease or anything like that.” Malaika and her sister Amrita Arora did not answer questions asked regarding this incident. After getting the news of this incident, Malaika Arora’s ex-husband Arbaaz Khan also reached there.
Arbaaz Khan’s parents Salim Khan and Salma Khan, brother Sohail Khan, Malaika Arora’s son Arhaan Khan, her ex-boyfriend actor Arjun Kapoor and producer Ritesh Sidhwani reached Malaika’s mother’s residence. Arbaaz Khan’s stepmother Helen, his sister Alvira Agnihotri, Sohail Khan’s ex-wife Seema Sajdeh and actresses Kim Sharma and Shibani Dandekar were also present there.