The Juhu (Bombay) police have arrested Vedika Shetty, former personal assistant to Alia Bhatt, on charges of allegedly swindling Rs. 76.91 lakh over two years from the actor’s production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions Pvt. Ltd., and her personal accounts. She was also found guilty of leaking personal information about Alia as well as the script of Jigra. The crime took place between May 2022 and August 2024.
Vedika was caught in Bangalore and brought to Bombay on a five-day transit remand. She was produced before a magistrate’s court in Bombay on July 8. She was remanded to police custody till July 10.
Alia’s mother, Soni Razdan, who is a director in the production company, filed a complaint with the Juhu police on January 23, following which a case was registered under sections 316(4) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Vedika would reportedly generate fake invoices and route payments from Alia and/or her company to a close friend’s account. The said friend would then transfer the entire amount into Vedika Shetty’s account.
Once Soni Razdan made the police complaint, Vedika went underground. She initially went to Rajasthan, then Karnataka, followed by Pune, and later to Bangalore where she was finally apprehended by the Juhu police.
Vedika was first found to be misusing funds in October 2022. When confronted at that time, she is said to have confessed to her actions and sought pardon. Considering her age, Alia and her company decided to forgive her and they gave her a second chance. But she was soon up to her old tricks after a few months. This time, she also started to leak sensitive information to third parties without the company’s knowledge.
