Filmmaker Shakeel Noorani held for rape, blackmail of aspiring actress | Mumbai News

Producer-director Shakeel Noorani (73) was arrested on Saturday,

MUMBAI: Producer-director Shakeel Noorani (73) was arrested on Saturday from a Mahabaleshwar farmhouse after being on the run for 40 days for allegedly raping an aspiring actress repeatedly over the last four years, threatening to release videos of the assault and inducing a miscarriage.Malwani police produced him before a court, which remanded in police custody till Aug 12.Sections 64(2)(M) (rape), 123 (causing hurt by means of poison), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 88 (causing miscarriage) of BNS have been invoked against him.In her complaint, the woman said, Noorani, who is also a scriptwriter, called her to his Malwani residence four years ago under the pretext of discussing a film script, spiked her drink and raped her. She said she lost consciousness and when she came to, he allegedly showed her a video on his phone of the sexual assault and allegedly threatened to circulate it if she approached police or confided in her family. She alleged Noorani subsequently used the video to threaten her and rape her on multiple occasions. She also alleged that he repeatedly gave her contraceptive pills following the alleged sexual assaults.

“He went into hiding after the FIR was filed 40 days ago. A police team even searched his son’s house in Lokhandwala, Andheri, but there was no trace of him. Using technical assistance, we traced him to a farmhouse in Medha, Satara district. Our counterparts from Medha police station detained him. Our team then took his custody,” said a Malwani police officer.DCP (zone 2) Sandip Ghuge said the police team had been gathering details since the complaint was filed.Noorani’s lawyer, Vikas Singh Goar, told TOI that he was falsely implicated and refused to offer more comments as the matter is in court.Noorani’s films include ‘Vishnu Devaa’ (1991), ‘Shreeman Aashique‘ (1993), ‘Bade Dilwala‘ (1999), and ‘Joru Ka Ghulam’ (2000).