Overview

• An FIR was registered on August 7 at Amboli Police Station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 316(2) for criminal breach of trust and 318(4) for cheating.
• Producer-director Raghavendra Hegde alleges he advanced ₹3.15 crore to Sarja before signing a formal agreement in February 2019 and that 18% interest has inflated the claim to ₹9.58 crore.
• Hegde contends Sarja repeatedly postponed the film’s shooting schedule, became unresponsive after the COVID-19 lockdown and pulled out of the project despite additional payments to third parties.
• Sarja secured a 10-day transit anticipatory bail from a Bangalore court and won interim protection from arrest until August 5 at Dindoshi Sessions Court on a ₹50,000 bail with equal surety.
• Investigators are examining financial records, contracts and bank transactions as the Dindoshi Sessions Court prepares for the next hearing on August 14.