‘Pushpa’ actor held for jr artist’s suicide

Hyderabad: Actor Jagdish Pratap Bhandari, who played role of Keshav in blockbuster ‘Pushpa’ was on Wednesday arrested by Hyderabad Police in connection with the suicide of a female junior artist.

The actor had allegedly taken pictures of the junior artist with a man and threatened to post the same on social media. He was also allegedly trying to blackmail the junior artist. She died by hanging at her residence in Hyderabad on November 29.

A case was registered at Panjagutta Police Station on a complaint by the woman’s father and after investigating the case, the police arrested Jagdish Bhandari and produced him in a court, which sent him to judicial custody.

The accused had taken the pictures of the woman (without her knowledge) when she was with a man on November 27. The actor reportedly was absconding after the incident and the police finally arrested him on Wednesday. He was said to be previously familiar with the junior artist. In ‘Pushpa: The Rise’, Jagdish had played the role of Keshav, a buddy of hero Allu Arjun.