On Saturday, Mumbai Police arrested filmmaker Shakeel Noorani after a 33-year-old aspiring actor accused him of raping and threatening her. The filmmaker was apprehended from his farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar.

In her complaint, the woman alleged that the accused had spike her drink and sexually assaulted her, after calling here to his Malvani residence on the pretext of discussing a script. The accused later showed her an intimate video on his phone, allegedly threatening to circulate the video if she tried to inform the police or anyone else.

According to the woman’s complaint, which was filed nearly 6 weeks ago, the accused later used the video to allegedly threaten her and sexually assault her on multiple occasions. One of the police officials said, “He also gave her contraceptive pills following the assault and poisoned her, causing a miscarriage,” quoting the complaint. 

Shakeel reportedly went into hiding after an official case was registered, focrcing the police to conduct search at all his residences, including his son’s house in Andheri area of Mumbai. The police eventually traced him down to his Mahabaleshwar farmhouse, from where he was apprehended. 

The accused has been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 64(2)(m) (rape), 123 (causing hurt by means of poison), 88 (causing miscarriage) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation). After his arrest, a local court has now remanded him to polive custody till Wednesday, August 12. 

Shakeel Noorani, who began his career as a producer with the 1991 film Vishnu-Devaa, went on to direct films like Bade Dilwala (1999) and Govinda-Twinkle Khanna starrer Joru Ka Ghulam (2000) among others. His last film project was Tezaab: The Acid of Love (2005).