Alia Bhatt's former assistant arrested for duping her of Rs 76 lakh

Mumbai: Mumbai Police have arrested the former personal assistant of Alia Bhatt for allegedly cheating the actor of Rs 76.9 lakh, an official said on Wednesday.

The fraud was committed over a period of two years between May 2022 and August 2024, the police said.

The accused, identified as Vedika Prakash Shetty, was arrested from Bengaluru on Tuesday and brought to Mumbai on a five-day transit remand, according to a Juhu police official.

Bhatt's mother, Soni Razdan, who is the director of Eternal Sunshine Productions Private Limited, filed a police complaint in January this year after the fraud came to light.

During the probe, the police found Shetty worked as Alia Bhatt's personal assistant from 2021 to 2024, and allegedly used to prepare fake invoices and get the actor's signature on them, the official said.

Shetty used to tell Bhatt that those invoices were for various expenses incurred by the actor for travel, gatherings and meetings, he said.

After Bhatt signed the invoices, Shetty sent the relevant payment to her close friend, who used to transfer the entire deposited amount back to Shetty's account, the official said.

The accused has been booked under relevant legal provisions, including for cheating and criminal breach of trust, the police said.

She was produced before a court here on Tuesday which remanded her in police custody till Thursday, the official said, adding further investigation was on into the case.