OTT Scam: Rashtra Kavach Om writer and Dream Girl associate producer Akshat Raj Saluja arrested, details inside
An OTT scam case has recently come to light, shocking the industry circles. Yesterday, a significant development occurred when the third arrest in this case was made. The cyber crime police apprehended Akshat Raj Saluja for his alleged involvement in this case.
Akshat is an actor who has appeared in films such as 31st October (2016), PM Narendra Modi (2019), and others. He was the associate producer of Ayushmann Khurrana’s Dream Girl (2019) and the writer of Aditya Roy Kapur’s recent release, Rashtra Kavach Om (2022), as well as the web series Shiksha Mandal. According to his IMDb page, he also wrote the upcoming Sunny Deol-Mithun Chakraborty-Jackie Shroff film Baap. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is the managing director of ThinkInk Picturez Limited, which is run by Dream Girl director Raaj Shaandilyaa.
Maan Singh, a producer, filed a complaint, which brought this matter to public eye. He met Rajat Kumar Mourya, who promised to help him sell his film on OTT platforms. He also stated that he will charge Rs. 10 lakhs for each digital film sold. Maan Singh agreed after Rajat showed him certificates, ostensibly from OTT platforms, for the films he assisted in the release of. In January 2021, he presented Maan Singh with a letter of intent from Panorama Studios, claiming that the studio, known for producing films such as Drishyam, Pyaar Ka Punchnama, and Raid, among others, is interested in purchasing his film for Rs. 4 crores.
This prompted Maan Singh to begin production on his film, MD Platinum. Rajat Kumar Mourya took Rs. 2.50 lakhs as a token amount and later Rs. 1.50 lakhs, claiming that he needed to pay the amount to a Panorama Studios official. Rajat had previously usurped Maan’s money under false pretences. After paying Rs. 48 lakhs, the producer realised he had been duped.
Rajat Kumar Mourya was arrested after the complaint was filed.
Soon after, one Sanjay Saha was arrested for his involvement. Finally, Akshat Raj Saluja was arrested under the Indian Penal Code as well as the Information Technology Act for cheating, forgery, and breach of trust. According to the police, Saluja was paid Rs. 7.50 lakh out of the Rs 48 lakh extracted from Singh. He appeared in court in Borivali, where he was remanded to police custody.
Interestingly, according to Maan Singh’s complaint, Rajat Kumar Mourya suggested that he hire Akshat Raj Saluja to rewrite and improve his film, MD Platinum. He had taken Rs. 5.50 lakhs from Maan for this.
According to reports, Maan Singh was not the only victim of this gang’s deception. Aankhen (2002) producer Gaurang Doshi and actor Vivek Oberoi were also targeted. According to the Hindustan Times, both have filed FIRs for cheating.
Gaurang Doshi admitted in this article that he felt “stupid” for catching on to the scam after a year. He also revealed that Vivek Oberoi was the one who introduced him to the gang. While Gaurang Doshi lost one crore, Vivek Oberoi lost two to three crores. Finally, Gaurang Doshi stated that the gang members used the names of celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and others to steal money.
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