Mumbai: The Malad police booked Bollywood actor and writer Zeishan Quadri on Thursday for allegedly cheating the producer of the “Crime Patrol’s Dial 100”. The actor, who co-wrote Gangs of Wasseypur, allegedly borrowed her Audi car worth ₹38 lakh and mortgaged it for ₹12 lakh after dodging her calls for over a year.
The producer, Rajbala Dhaka Chaudhary (44), who lives in Malad with her two sons Sameer and Sahil and brother, owns a production house called Shalini Productions. In 2017, she produced the serial Dial 100 (crime series) for Sony Television.
According to Chaudhary, in 2018 she bought an Audi car for her personal use. Choudhary told the Malad police that during the shoot of “Dial 100” in 2018 she met Quadri and his wife who own “Friday-to-Friday Entertainers and Media Private Ltd”. Chaudhary said she worked with them on projects like Crime Patrol and a film called Halahal, and subsequently became friends.
In her statement to the Malad police, Chaudhary stated that on June 22, 2021, Quadri visited her house and told her son Sameer that he had an offer to produce a comedy show called April which will be aired on Sab TV. Quadri then offered Choudhary partnership in producing the show, claiming he was short on finances.
“Quadri made the offer and sought finance from me. As the offer was tempting, I told him that I would produce the serial along with him and agreed to finance it as well,” Chaudhary said in her statement to the police.
After discussing the details of the show, Quadri told Chaudhary that he would be required to attend many meetings with the channel heads, show director and actors for which he would need a car that could be a statement vehicle for a producer. “He sought to borrow my Audi car and as I trusted him, I agreed to give him my car just for a few days,” said Chaudhary.
A month later when Chaudhary did not hear anything from Quadri or get her car back, she called Quadri but he began dodging her calls and making excuses like he was in High Court or busy in a meeting and would call back, said a police officer.
When contacted, Chaudhary said, “For over a year I tried to get my car back but Quadri failed to return it. Quadri had even told her in July that he would ask his driver to drop off the car but it never came.”
On Wednesday, Chaudhary said, she learnt that Quadri had mortgaged the car with a friend for ₹12 lakh after which she approached the police and based on her complaint an FIR was registered against Quadri.
“We have booked Quadri for cheating and criminal breach of trust under sections 420 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code,” said a police officer from Malad police station.
Multiple attempts to reach Quadri for comment remained unsuccessful.