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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, March 5: Rajat Bhattacharya, an assistant director, and flatmate of film and TV star Sharad Kapoor, was found murdered in his flat at Oshiwara, Andheri (west) on Tuesday night. Police said Rajat was hit repeatedly on his head with an iron rod by Vikash Shetty alias Vicky (21), his colleague. Vicky who was later arrested confessed that after killing Rajat he fled with a computer and some other valuables.
Oshiwara police said a profusely bleeding Rajat had begged Vikas not to leave him to die and had even agreed to write a note stating that he had suffered the injuries in an accident. But as soon as he finished writing the note, Vikas snatched the paper and banged Rajat’s head against a wall killing him instantly. Twenty-four-year-old Rajat was found lying in a pool of blood on Wednesday evening by Sharad Kapoor.
Rajat and Vikas were both assistant directors with Shashilal Nair on his film Hum Panchhi Ek Dal Ke starring Sunil Shetty and Aishwarya Rai. Shocked unit people told ExpressNewsline that both men were great friends and recalled Vicky to be a very gentle man. Sharad Kapoor, who is yet to recover from the shock, was away in Nairobi shooting for his film Hadd and had returned only on Wednesday morning.
He was relaxing at a friend’s house at Seven Bunaglow in the afternoon when his cook called up to say that Rajat had locked the house and fled. Sharad rushed to his apartment only to find the floor and the walls splattered with blood. Inside, in his bedroom, he found Rajat’s body covered with a blanket. The Oshiwara police were informed and enquiries with the watchman of the building revealed that Vikas had fled in a taxi.
It did not take the police long to track down the taxi driver who then led them to a dance bar at Mahim where he had dropped Vikas. Police in civvies and the taxi driver entered the bar. Enquiries revealed that Vikas was slated to come back. On his return, he was immediately identified by the taxi driver. Vikas tried to escape in another taxi, butwas nabbed after a short chase.
"I don’t know much about Vikas, but Rajat had been staying with me for about 10 months and he was such a gentle person," said Sharad Kapoor. Film director Shashilal Nair and his entire unit were equally shell-shocked. "I have over 10 children shooting for the film. Vikas was so close to them that they would never eat without him being around," said Nair.
