30-year-old fan arrested for harassing Bollywood singer in Mumbai

Rajesh Kumar Shukla, the accused, had come to the city to meet his favourite playback singers and wanted to meet Palak Muchhal.

The Amboli police on Wednesday arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly harassing a leading Bollywood playback singer, Palak Muchhal, over the phone and threatening her.

Bollywood singer Palak Muchhal was harassed by a 30-year-old man claiming to be a fan. (HT File Photo)

According to sources, Rajesh Kumar Shukla, the accused, wanted to meet famous playback singers of Bollywood and claimed to be a fan. During the investigation it was found that he hailed from Sasaram in Bihar, and had come to the city to meet his favourite playback singers. Sources said he wanted to meet Muchhal, even if it involved threatening her.

“Shukla claims he got the singer’s number from the telephone directory but it is under investigation. He called her twice or thrice after messaging her to meet him. He even threatened her on the phone, outraging her modesty,” said a source.

The police said they are also investigating whether Shukla has accessed the contact numbers of other female playback singers. “The singer approached Amboli police station two days ago. She allegedly first received a few messages when the man asked her to meet him. She tried to ignore the messages, but approached the police after he started calling and threatening her,” added the source.

Police said they noted the number from which Muchhal received the threats and tracked it. Shukla’s phone has been confiscated and is being checked to ascertain if he had plans to harass other female playback singers in the city. A case has been registered under sections 354(D)(punishment for stalking) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.