Vikram Bhatt case: IO says 'evidence' of alleged financial fraud collected; filmmaker's lawyer questions police action

Jaipur, Jan 11 (PTI) Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari have been in jail for over a month in connection with an alleged Rs 44.7-crore fraud case lodged by Indira IVF and Fertility Centre founder Ajay Murdia, with the complainant's lawyer claiming that fake bills and vouchers were used to siphon off money meant for film projects.

Police said they have gathered evidence, which is being verified, and claimed they did not get adequate cooperation from Bhatt's team.

"We have collected evidence from the filmmaker's locations in Mumbai. Some bills have also been found. We are ascertaining their veracity. The filmmaker's team did not fully cooperate in the investigation," Investigating Officer (IO), DSP Chagan Rajpurohit, told PTI on Sunday.

On January 5, the Rajasthan High Court rejected the accused's plea for quashing the FIR.

Bhatt's counsel had argued before the court that the dispute was civil in nature and the allegations were related to a breach of contract, not a criminal offence, and sought transfer of proceedings to Mumbai.

The filmmaker's lawyer, Kamlesh Dave, on Sunday rejected allegations of fraud, claiming every payment was made with the knowledge of both parties. He also questioned the police action.

"Police action was done in a hasty manner in this particular case. There are set procedures in the BNSS which were not duly followed," Dave told PTI.

According to the lawyer, an application seeking fair and unbiased investigation in the case has been filed before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Udaipur, that will be heard on Monday.

According to the complaint, the case stems from a four-film deal between Murdia and Bhatt that allegedly went awry, leading to financial losses and criminal proceedings.

Murdia's lawyer, Manzoor Hussain, said that Murdia was introduced to Bhatt by Udaipur-based Dinesh Kataria, who had links in the film industry. Hussain alleged that Bhatt persuaded Murdia to invest in multiple film projects, including a biopic and a film on Lord Shrinathji.

"In March 2024, Dr Murdia met Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari in Mumbai. Bhatt proposed two films initially and later convinced him to fund two more," Hussain said.

According to the complaint, Rs 15 crore was agreed for the biopic and Rs 25 crore for the Shrinathji film. Bhatt allegedly later sought an additional Rs 7 crore for two more projects, claiming all four films would be produced together using a common studio.

Hussain alleged that the scripts for the additional films were never finalised.

The lawyer said Murdia, unfamiliar with film production, allowed Kataria to act as a mediator. A firm, Indira Entertainment, was formed in Udaipur in equal partnership with Shwetambari, under which Bhatt was to submit expense bills that would be verified before payments were released.

"They generated fake bills and vouchers. Kataria approved them, and payments were made. In total, bills amounting to Rs 44.27 crore were cleared," Hussain alleged.

Only two films were eventually made, including the biopic titled Tumko Meri Kasam, which was released on March 26 last year. Hussain claimed that apart from a premiere in Udaipur, no significant amount was spent on promotion and the film failed commercially.

Bhatt allegedly avoided queries regarding the remaining projects, prompting Murdia to lodge an FIR at Bhupalpura police station in Udaipur on November 8, 2025.

The police arrested Bhatt, Shwetambari, Kataria and Bhatt's manager, Mehboob Ansari, from Mumbai on December 7 and brought them to Udaipur.

Bhatt's lawyer Kamlesh Dave alleged that the entire police action was taken "based only on the FIR and not documents".

"Every payment was made in the knowledge of both parties. There were no such fake or bogus bills. The agreement was done to make two films first and another two on rolling finance. We are going to raise all issues before the court on January 12," he said.

He said that the bail application will be heard in the high court on January 15. PTI AG RT RT