‘PRATYUSHA GOT VIOLENT FIRST… I ONLY HIT HER & RAHUL LATER’

A fortnight after the Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha's death, her boyfriend, Rahul Raj Singh's previous girlfriend & partner, Saloni Sharma, lastly opens up.

On April 1, Pratyusha hanged herself from the ceiling fan at her Goregaon residence. Following her dreadful suicide, her friends, producer Vikas Gupta & wedding planner Leena Dias, have been blaming Pratyusha's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh's ex-girlfriend, Saloni Sharma, for the disaster, alleging that she used to assault the actress in his absence. Speaking to Mirror, Saloni Sharma denied the allegations. 

She claimed that she had met Rahul Raj Singh 5 years ago through a common friend & they started two event management companies. "We started dating just in the last three years of our association," informed the actress-turned- capitalist. 

Saloni Sharma insisted that she was totally clueless that while he was seeing her, Rahul Raj Singh had too started dating Pratyusha Banerjee. "He started dating her in May 2015 & I only discovered this in July during a few industry friends. When I went to his place to confront him, an smashed Pratyusha Banerjee barged in later & told me to get out of their lives. We had a huge argument after which I left them by yourself," she recalled. 

She informed that the next day Rahul Raj Singh called her requesting that she ignore Pratyusha Banerjee's behaviour, insisting that they were now friends. "I let it go, but contrary to what is being written, it wasn't me but Pratyusha Banerjee who was the other lady in Rahul's life. She knew about our affair & manipulated Rahul Raj to leave me, urging him to even break all professional ties," she said. 

Soon later than, Saloni Sharma admitted that she was shocked to see pics of Pratyusha Banerjee celebrating her birthday with Rahul Raj Singh in the papers & on August 10 went to his apartment for a showdown. She wasn't allowed to enter the building. "Rahul Raj Singh called my father asking him to take me away. at what time he reached, we went up to Rahul's flat where we saw Pratyusha Banerjee & her parents. When I confronted her, she told us that Rahul & she were getting married & I should get out of their lives. I broke up with Rahul Raj the same day," Saloni asserted. 

Though, with both their companies running into shortage, Saloni Sharma , who had invested Rs 30 lakh in the ventures, would infrequently meet Rahul to collect a "some thousands" from him as they were sharing the loss. When the cash stopped, she dropped in on Rahul & Pratyusha's Oshiwara flat on 11th February. 

"Pratyusha Banerjee refused to give me any money & turned violent, urging Rahul Raj Singh to join her in assaulting me. They threw me out of the home. She even took my purse, dupatta & glasses, so I asked the neighbours for help. I banged on the door & Pratyusha eventually opened it wearing my dupatta. She returned my stuff & I left," Saloni Sharma said. She claimed that Rahul Raj Singh chased after her and in a fury, she hit him in the building lobby. "Pratyusha Banerjee followed & I hit her too. 

Unluckily, there was no CCTV in the apartment so there's no record of what happened there, but the camera in the entrance hall filmed the fight," Saloni Sharma confided. 

She claimed that behind this incident, she filed a complaint against the pair in the Bangur Nagar Police Station. "But they requested me to remove it saying that if they were put behind bars, Rahul Raj wouldn't be able to pay the money back. Thus I took the complaint back. That was the last time when I met Pratyusha Banerjee," she maintained. 

Saloni Sharma added that she was amazed when her name was dragged through mud behind the Balika Vadhu actress's death. "I have not at all met Vikas, Kamya Punjabi or Rakhi Sawant, so how can they claim to know so much regarding me? Leena was employed with our company for a short period. I wasn't happy with her work & I had mentioned this to Rahul Raj once but we did not sack her, she left on her possess. I guess, she had a grudge alongside me which she is taking out now," she pointed out. 

She recorded her declaration with the police previous week, admitting that the incident has shaped havoc in her life & maligned her family. "I didn't believe it's in good taste to talk ill of the dead. But later than these allegations I had no choice but to speak up," she signed off.