Filmmaker Claims Puja Banerjee-Kunal Verma Held Him Hostage, Extorted Rs 23 Lakh

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5 hours ago

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Bengali film producer Shyam Sunder Dey accused TV couple Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma of kidnapping and extorting him in Goa.
In a shocking turn of events, Bengali film producer Shyam Sunder Dey has accused popular TV actors Puja Banerjee and Kunal Verma of abducting him during a recent trip to Goa. His wife, Malabika, has lodged a police complaint, and the couple has been booked under serious charges.
Dey spoke to Times of India and revealed that the incident happened while he was on vacation in Goa with his family. After five days, his family flew back home, but he stayed on for some work. One day, while he was driving, things took a terrifying turn.
'It came out of nowhere and forced me to a halt. Two men got down, approached me, and insisted I step out. At first, I refused. But then I noticed Puja Banerjee, who has been like a sister to me, was present," he said, describing how a black Jaguar blocked his car on a busy road.
Trusting Puja's presence, Dey stepped out of the car and was allegedly taken to a villa. 'I stayed at the villa from June 1 to June 4. I wasn't allowed to leave. Every day I tried to reason with Puja and Kunal; I reminded them we were like family, pleaded with them to stop. But all I faced were threats," he claimed.
According to Dey, things got violent. He alleged that Kunal, along with a few others, beat him up in front of Puja and even confiscated his phone except one. 'When they began pressing me to sign property papers, I realised this had gone too far," he said.
Using the only phone left near him, Dey secretly sent his location and a video to his wife, shot inside a bathroom. Malabika immediately contacted the authorities, and on June 4, he was rescued from the villa.
Following the complaint, Puja, Kunal, and their associate Piyush Kothari have been charged with abduction, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, and extortion under several sections of the BNS.
Malabika later took to Facebook to share her side. She said the couple had threatened to falsely frame her husband in a drug case unless he gave them money. She added that they made him transfer Rs 23 lakh, even though they had initially demanded Rs 64 lakh.
So far, Puja and Kunal haven't responded to the accusations. Interestingly, just a few days ago, the couple had posted online claiming that someone close to them had scammed them out of all their savings.