Priya Rajvansh Case: There have been many such deaths in Bollywood, the truth behind which remains a mystery even after years. One such sensational and soul-stirring story is that of actress Priya Rajvansh. The actress who played the immortal character of ‘Heer’ in the 1970 classic film ‘Heer Ranjha’ Priya Dynasty He was brutally murdered on 27 March 2000 in a luxurious bungalow in Juhu, Mumbai. This high-profile murder case shook the entire nation, because the accused of murder was not on anyone else, but on her live-in partner and famous filmmaker Chetan Anand’s real sons (Priya’s step-sons) Ketan Anand and Vivek Anand.
After police investigation, the lower court had sentenced the two sons and two servants to life imprisonment in the year 2002, but later, due to the bail granted by the higher court and lack of evidence, even after 24 years, the mystery as to who strangled Priya Rajvansh in that bungalow that night is still completely unsolved.
How a photograph from London changed Veera Sundar Singh’s life?
Priya Dynasty His life was full of ups and downs like a film script. Born in Shimla, Veera’s father was a conservator in the Forest Department. When her father was posted in the United Nations (UN), Veera also went to London. There he learned the nuances of acting from the world’s prestigious ‘Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’.
During his stay in London, a famous photographer had clicked some of his pictures. Those pictures reached the famous Indian filmmaker of that time, Thakur Ranveer Singh. he took those pictures Dev Anand Showed it to his elder brother and famous director Chetan Anand. Chetan Anand fell in love with Veera’s sharp features and beauty at first sight. He immediately called Veera to India and signed her as the lead actress in his 1964 historical war film ‘Haqeeqat’. With this film, Veera Sundar Singh got a new name and that name was Priya Rajvansh.
Live-in relationship with Chetan Anand
During the shooting of the film ‘Haqeeqat’, the closeness between Priya Rajvansh and Chetan Anand, who was much older than her, increased. Chetan Anand had separated from his wife Uma. The relationship between Priya and Chetan became so deep that both of them started living together as live-in partners in Juhu’s Ruia Park bungalow. After this Priya Rajvansh decided that she would not work in any director’s film other than Chetan Anand. He did only 7 films in his entire career (like ‘Heer Ranjha’, ‘Hanste Zakhm’, ‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’) and all of them were made by Chetan Anand.
Priya was not only an actress, but she also handled the entire work of Chetan Anand’s production house, script writing and post-production. But Chetan Anand’s two sons – Ketan and Vivek Anand were not at all happy with the fact that instead of their mother, some other woman was ruling their father’s bungalow. Bitterness continued to increase between the sons and Priya.
Will worth crores and luxurious bungalow became the cause of death
When Chetan Anand died in 1997, he divided his property into three equal parts in his will. Two portions were in the name of his two sons and the third portion was given to his life partner Priya Rajvansh. The biggest thing was that the luxurious Ruia Park bungalow in Juhu also came in Priya Rajvansh’s share. This statement of the will was hurting the sons from within, because they did not want to let this precious property go from their hands.
After the death of Chetan Anand, Priya Rajvansh became completely alone. She started living alone in a part of the same Juhu bungalow. She neither talked much to anyone nor came out of the bungalow.
Dead body found in bathroom, Priya Rajvansh’s last diary reveals secrets
On the night of March 27, 2000, a news broke the silence from the Ruia Park bungalow that Priya Rajvansh had died. Initially an attempt was made to show it as a normal death or a heart attack, but when the police sent the body for post-mortem, the doctors made it clear that Priya died due to strangulation. That means this was clearly a premeditated murder.
During the investigation by Mumbai Police, a personal diary and some handwritten notes were recovered from Priya Rajvansh’s room. In this diary, Priya had clearly stated that there was a threat to her life. In a letter written to Dev Anand’s younger brother Vijay Anand (Goldy), he had also expressed apprehension that something untoward might happen to him regarding the bungalow property. He was always afraid of being murdered.
The whole story from life imprisonment to acquittal
Based on Priya Rajvansh’s diary and the statements of the servants, Mumbai Police arrested Chetan Anand’s two sons, Ketan Anand, Vivek Anand and two domestic servants (Mala Chaudhary and Ashok Chinnaswamy) on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy.
- July 2002: Mumbai Sessions Court, taking a tough stance, found all four accused guilty of murder of Priya Rajvansh and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
- November 2002: The accused challenged this decision in the Bombay High Court. Accepting the seriousness of the case and the absence of direct eyewitnesses, the High Court granted bail to all four within just 4 months.
2011: After further appeals and lengthy legal debate, the court finds no concrete, forensic or direct evidence against the four. After this, giving the benefit of doubt, he was acquitted in this case.
This is the reason why even after 26 years, the question still remains in the law files that if the step-sons and servants did not commit the murder, then who entered that locked bungalow in Juhu that night and strangled the ‘Heer’ of Indian cinema?
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