Alia Bhatt and Urvashi Rautela’s Ex-PA Arrested For Theft, Cheating

Hours after it was reported that Alia Bhatt’s former Personal Assistant, Vedika Prakash Shetty, has been arrested for allegedly stealing money, Urvashi Rautela’s mother has claimed that Shetty caused a great financial loss to their family as well. Meera Rautela claimed that Shetty was also associated with Urvashi from 2015 to 2017 and “engaged in multiple acts of theft and deceit" during this time.

“Vedika Shetty was employed as a 24/7 executive assistant to my daughter during 2015-2017. She was hired to assist Urvashi during her reign after returning from Miss Universe in Las Vegas and subsequently during the handover of the Miss Universe India crown in 2016. At this time, she was entrusted with various responsibilities, starting from Urvashi’s wardrobe, heavy gowns, and personal belongings. However, soon we realised that she had engaged in multiple acts of theft and deceit which caused a great deal of financial loss to the family," Urvashi’s mother claimed.

Meera Raitela alleged that in 2016, Vedika stole a “significant amount of money" from Urvashi’s grandmother too. “During the Miss Universe India crown handover ceremony in 2016, my mother traveled from Nainital to our residence in Mumbai to attend the event. While she was staying at our home, Vedika Shetty, who had access to our house as Urvashi’s assistant stole a significant amount of money (amounting to lakhs of rupees) from my mother’s briefcase, she added.

Juhu Police arrested Vedika Prakash Shetty on Tuesday from Bengaluru. She has been accused of allegedly swindling money from Bhatt’s production house – Eternal Sunshine Productions Pvt Ltd – and from the actress’s accounts. Reportedly, Shetty had fraudulently obtained more than Rs 76 lakh from these two accounts using fake bills.

After Alia Bhatt's mother, actor-director Soni Razdan filed a police complaint, Vedika Shetty was on the run and kept changing her location. She was tracked down to Rajasthan, then to Karnataka, then to Pune, and then to Bengaluru. Eventually, Juhu police caught up with her in Bengaluru and arrested her. She was then brought to Mumbai on a transit demand.