Mumbai: The sessions court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to 44-year-old businessman Vikrant Deshmukh, booked for his alleged role in the kidnapping and assault of his business partner at Madness Bar in Goregaon in February last year.
Amol Muke lodged a complaint with Marine Drive police, alleging that he and Deshmukh had started Madness Bar in partnership, investing `1 crore each. Ajay Ade was appointed manager.
Muke said he initially handled the bar's day-to-day operations. After six months, when business declined, Deshmukh allegedly asked him to step aside, promising accounts would be settled later. Deshmukh then managed the bar for one-and-ahalf years.
According to Muke, from July 2024 Deshmukh began demanding `1 crore, blaming him for the losses.
Muke alleged that on February 25, 2025, while he was at a Churchgate hotel with a friend, Deshmukh and a man posing as a police officer threatened him, assaulted him and tried to force him into a car. He claimed friends intervened and rescued him, following which he approached police against Deshmukh and Ade.
Deshmukh's lawyer Hare Krishna Mishra argued there was no evidence of assault and claimed the dispute was civil. Public prosecutor Anand Sukhadeve opposed the plea, saying custodial interrogation was necessary.
Rejecting the plea, the court said CCTV footage from Sea Green Hotel showed the suspect beating the informant, dragging him out through the south gate and towards Pizza by the Bay. The court held there was sufficient prima facie material indicating Deshmukh's involvement and denied him anticipatory bail. The judge observed that the investigation was at a stage and custodial interrogation could help establish the sequence of events.
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