Hours before death, Nitin Desai prayed at Karjat studio temple; police recover 11 voice notes, director named 4 individuals & 1 firm

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Nitin Desai was found dead at his studio in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, the police have revealed the sequence of events leading up to the art director’s death by suicide. News agency PTI, quoting investigating officials, reported that the 58-year-old creative genius had visited his studio in Karjat in the early hours of Wednesday and offered prayers at the temple there. He then visited the mega floor of the building along with his attendant.

He gave a voice recorder to his attendant and requested him to share it with his lawyer, the police told PTI. However, he took back the recorder, saying that he would like to record something. The next morning, the attendant couldn't spot the art director at the bungalow.

However, he came across the voice recorder and played it. When he heard the words, "Lalbaug-chya Raja-la majha shevat-cha namaskar," (my last respects to Lalbaug Cha Raja), he suspected something was not right. He rushed to the mega floor, where he found the art director lifeless, PTI reported..

'Lalbaugh-cha Raja' is a popular idol of Lord Ganesha that is installed at Mumbai's Lalbaugh during Ganesh Chaturthi every year. Desai, who has spun larger-than-life dreams on the big screen,often designed the pandal each year. The police confirmed to PTI that about 11 audio clips (voice notes) had been recovered from Desai's Karjat office.

A police official investigating the case told PTI that Desai had named a prominent financial services firm in one of the voice clips, along with four individuals. In another voice note, Desai had requested the government to take over his studio and provide a platform to budding artists. Desai was debt-ridden.