Mumbai: Police have arrested Vedika Prakash Shetty (32), actress Alia Bhatt’s former personal assistant, for allegedly duping her of Rs 76.9 lakh through financial irregularities in her personal accounts and production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions Pvt Ltd.
According to police sources, Shetty worked as Bhatt’s personal assistant from 2021 to 2024, handling her financial documents, payments, and scheduling.
Investigations revealed that Shetty allegedly created fake bills under the pretext of travel and meeting expenses, took Alia’s signatures on them, and siphoned off the funds by transferring the money to a friend’s account, who later returned it to Shetty.
The fraud, which took place between May 2022 and August 2024, came to light after Alia Bhatt’s mother, actor-filmmaker Soni Razdan, lodged a complaint at Juhu police station on January 23. Following the complaint, Shetty allegedly fled and frequently changed locations across Rajasthan, Karnataka, Pune, and Bengaluru.
Shetty was finally arrested by Juhu police from Bengaluru and brought to Mumbai on transit remand for further investigation.
