Farmhouse owner's estranged wife alleges foul play, police to quiz her

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday said it will question the estranged wife of the owner of the farmhouse, where actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik attended a party a day before his death, following her allegation that her husband "was planning to get rid" of him.

In a complaint addressed to the Delhi Police commissioner, the woman alleged that her husband had borrowed Rs 15 crore from Kaushik and did not wish to return it. The Delhi Police issued a statement saying an inquiry has been initiated into the allegations of foul play levelled by the woman. "An inspector-level officer from the South West district has been asked to probe the matter. The woman will be called for questioning and her statement will be recorded," it said. This comes a day after police denied any foul play in the actor's death.

According to them, the post-mortem report stated the preliminary cause of death was cardiac arrest caused by coronary artery blockage associated with coronary artery disease and that the manner of death appears to be natural. The woman claimed that she was introduced to Kaushik by her husband and added that on August 23, 2022, the actor visited them in Dubai and demanded Rs 15 crore back from her husband.

"I was present in the drawing room where both Kaushik and my husband got involved in an argument... My husband promised Kaushik that he would repay the money soon. When I asked my husband, he claimed that he lost Kaushik's money during the Covid pandemic. My husband also said that he was planning to get rid of Kaushik," she said in her complaint.

Kaushik (66) died after suffering a heart attack while he was on his way to a Gurugram hospital in the early hours of Thursday. He felt dizzy late on Wednesday night and was taken to the Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, where he was declared "brought dead on arrival". An inquiry has revealed that Kaushik, along with his manager Santosh Rai, came to Delhi on Wednesday around 10 am and stayed at the residence of his friend at Bijwasan, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Rajeev Kumar said on Saturday.

A senior police officer earlier said that they have recovered some 'medicines' from the farmhouse in Delhi where the 66-year-old actor had attended a party before his death, reportedly due to cardiac arrest. Kaushik, whose directing credits include "Tere Naam" and "Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai", is survived by his wife Shashi and daughter Vanshika.