Mumbai Police have arrested Vedika Prakash Shetty, the former personal assistant of Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, on charges of embezzling Rs 76.9 lakh. The alleged misappropriation of funds occurred over a two-year period and involved both Bhatt’s personal finances and those of her production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions Private Limited.
Shetty, 32, was taken into custody from Bengaluru on July 8 after evading authorities for several months. She was produced before the Bandra Magistrate Court and has been remanded to police custody until July 10.
The Juhu Police began their investigation in January following a formal complaint filed by Bhatt’s mother, actress Soni Razdan. According to investigators, Shetty submitted multiple forged invoices that appeared to bear Bhatt’s signature. The funds from these fake transactions were initially diverted to a friend’s bank account before being transferred to Shetty’s personal account.
Authorities said that although Shetty’s associate did not retain any of the embezzled money, both individuals are currently being questioned as efforts continue to recover the stolen amount.
Shetty had worked closely with Bhatt for more than two years, handling both personal and professional affairs, including operations of Eternal Sunshine Productions. Her employment ended in 2023.
Eternal Sunshine Productions was established by Alia Bhatt in 2021. Its debut project was Darlings, a Netflix release featuring Bhatt alongside Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, and Roshan Mathew.
