Udaipur: An Udaipur court sent filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Soni to seven-day police custody in connection with a Rs 30-crore fraud case.
Vikram, who has helmed films like ‘Raaz’, Ghulam’ and ‘Jurm’, and his second wife Shwetambari were brought to Udaipur after being arrested by a special police team from Mumbai.
The couple was produced in court with police asking for custody to continue the investigation into the financial transactions and documents linked to the case.
Udaipur’s additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) court passed the order, granting custody.
#WATCH | Director and filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt have been sent to 7 days’ police custody by the Additional Senior Civil Judge and Additional Chief Magistrate, Udaipur Court.
They were detained yesterday in Mumbai by the Rajasthan Police in connection… https://t.co/AfNO3uWG6l pic.twitter.com/YDyQcMKoAk
— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2025
An FIR was registered on November 17 against eight individuals, including the Vikram and his wife, based on a complaint filed by Dr Ajay Murdia, director of Indira Group of Companies.
Murdia claimed that he met film producer Dinesh Katariya at an event, where the latter proposed making a biopic on Murdia’s wife, claiming the film would highlight her contribution to the nation.
Murdia said he was invited to Vrindavan Studio in Mumbai in April 2024, when he met Vikram. An agreement was reportedly signed to produce the biopic, with Bhatt handling the filmmaking process and Murdia providing finances.
According to police, a Rs 40-crore contract was signed for two films titled ‘Biopic’ and ‘Maharana’.
Between May 2024 and June 2025, Murdia said he transferred payments on multiple occasions to Bhatt and vendors linked to the alleged projects, amounting to Rs 30 crore. However, there was a sudden breakdown in communication, and repeated emails went unanswered. Suspecting a fraud, Murdia lodged a complaint on November 8.
“We arrested both the accused from Mumbai and brought them to Udaipur. They have now been produced before the court, where further legal action will proceed as per law,” said DSP Chhagan Rajpurohit.
Vikram’s lawyer Jai Krishna Dave described the situation as a misunderstanding.
“This is a case of misunderstanding. We are fully ready to cooperate. It appears to be an accounts-mismatch issue and seems to have occurred due to miscommunication by a third party. Once documents are verified, the misunderstanding will be cleared. The police requested remand and the court has sent both to seven days of police custody,” said Dave.
Police are in the process of examining documentary evidence, bank statements and financial trails, as well as carrying out more interrogations.
