Mumbai: Malad police on Thursday arrested Bollywood actor and writer Zeishan Quadri for allegedly cheating on the producer of ‘Crime Patrol’s Dial 100’. The actor, who co-wrote Gangs of Wasseypur, reportedly borrowed his Audi car worth ₹38 lakh and mortgaged for ₹12 lakh after dodging his calls for over a year.
The producer, Rajbala Dhaka Chaudhary (44), who lives in Malad with her two sons Sameer and Sahil and her brother, owns a production house called Shalini Productions. In 2017, she produced the series Dial 100 (detective series) for Sony Television.
According to Chaudhary, in 2018 she bought an Audi car for her personal use. Choudhary told Malad Police that while filming ‘Dial 100’ in 2018, she met Quadri and his wife, owners of ‘Friday-to-Friday Entertainers and Media Private Ltd’. Chaudhary said she worked with them on projects like Crime Patrol and a movie called Halahal, and later became friends.
In her statement to Malad Police, Chaudhary said that on June 22, 2021, Quadri went to her house and told her son Sameer that he had an offer to produce a comedy show called April which will air on Sab TV. Quadri then offered Choudhary to partner in the show’s production, saying he was short on money.
“Quadri made the offer and asked me for funding. As the offer was tempting, I told him I would produce the series with him and agreed to fund it as well,” Chaudhary said in his statement. to the police.
After discussing the details of the show, Quadri told Chaudhary that he would be required to attend numerous meetings with the line managers, the show director and the actors for whom he would need a car that could be a statement vehicle for a producer. “He looked to borrow my Audi car and since I trusted him, I agreed to give him my car just for a few days,” Chaudhary said.
A month later, when Chaudhary heard nothing from Quadri or got her car back, she called Quadri but he started dodging her calls and making excuses like he was at the High Court or busy in a meeting and that he would call back, said a police officer.
When contacted, Chaudhary said: “For over a year I tried to get my car back but Quadri couldn’t get it back. Quadri had even told her in July that he would ask his driver to drop off the car, but she never came.
On Wednesday, Chaudhary said he learned that Quadri had mortgaged the car with a friend to ₹12 lakh after which she contacted the police and based on her complaint an FIR was registered against Quadri.
“We booked Quadri for cheating and criminal breach of trust under Sections 420 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code,” a police officer from Malad police station said.
Several attempts to reach Quadri for comment have been unsuccessful.
