Office assistant allegedly flees with ₹40L from musician Pritam Chakraborty’s Goregaon studio

Malad police hunt for 32-year-old office assistant Ashish Sayal, who allegedly stole ₹40 lakh in cash from Pritam Chakraborty's studio.

MUMBAI: The Malad police have launched a manhunt to trace a 32-year-old office assistant employed at the studio of musician and singer Pritam Chakraborty who allegedly fled with ₹40 lakh in cash. The sum had been received as payment from a production house for an assignment completed by the studio.

Office assistant allegedly flees with ₹40L from musician Pritam Chakraborty’s Goregaon studio

According to the police, the National Award-winning composer operates a studio, Unimuse Records Private Limited, located in the Rustomjee Ozone building on Goregaon-Mulund Link Road. The complaint was lodged by his manager, Vineet Chheda, 29.

On Tuesday, an individual from film producer Madhu Mantena’s office visited the studio and delivered ₹40 lakh in cash as payment. Chheda counted the cash and stored it in a trolley bag. The stolen bag reportedly contained 8,000 notes of ₹500. At the time, office assistant Ashish Sayal, 32, was present, along with two others office assistants—Ahmed Khan and Kamal Disha.

Chheda then left the studio to visit Chakraborty’s residence to get signatures on some documents. When he returned around 10:30 PM, he discovered the bag missing. Upon questioning Khan, he was informed that Sayal had taken the bag, claiming he was delivering the cash to Chakraborty’s house.

However, Sayal neither reached the musician’s residence nor returned to the studio. His mobile phone was switched off. Initially, Chakraborty advised his staff to wait, as Sayal had been employed with him for seven years. After a few days, with no sign of Sayal, the matter was reported to the police. Chheda subsequently approached the court and filed a formal complaint.

The Malad police have registered a case under Section 381 (theft by employees, servants, or clerks of their employer’s property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and launched an investigation. Police are actively searching for Sayal, who remains uncontactable. Authorities are also questioning others present at the studio for further leads.

Pritam Chakraborty has composed several hit songs for films like Dhoom 2, Jab We Met, Life in a Metro, Bodyguard, Barfi, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Dangal, and many more. The artiste was unavailable for comment till the time of going to press.