Navin Nischol, accompanied by actor Kamal Sadanah, outside court on Saturday. (Fotocorp)

Mumbai, April 29: A city court today sent veteran actor Navin Nischol to police custody for allegedly abetting his wife Geetanjali’s suicide, but the day also saw her brother add a twist to the case.

Manmohan Shukul asked the police to trace her huge collection of art and antique jewellery missing from her home since her suicide last Saturday.

“The police say they didn’t find any jewellery in the house when they made a panchnama following the suicide. Where has it all gone? My sister owned a lot of antique jewellery ? both gold and silver ? gifted to her by her first husband, Ashok Narbheram. She also had this Husain she was so proud of,” Shukul said.

“It was estimated at a crore upwards,” Geetanjali’s brother added.

Narbheram, who is holidaying in New Zealand, is likely to fly back next week and help Shukul trace the missing jewellery and artworks. They will be joined by a close friend and confidante of Geetanjali from her Bombay Scottish school days who did not want to be named.

Geetanjali, who did not leave a will, hanged herself from a ceiling fan at her central Mumbai home. Navin had sent the 46-year-old a divorce notice just a few days ago.

The suicide note she left behind says she was taking the extreme step because of her husband’s alcoholism and abuse. She also alleged that Navin’s brother Praveen, who has also been remanded in police custody till May 6, instigated her husband.

“I, Geetanjali Navin Nischol, am committing suicide because Shri Navinji is an alcoholic and is beyond reform. Because of his alcoholism, I am mentally tortured by him and he is being instigated by Praveen Nischol to torture me and I hold Praveen responsible for all this torture to me,” she said in the note.

Senior inspector Joe Gaikwad of Mahim police station, where the case has been registered, said the brothers have been arrested under “Sections 498 (a) (husband or relative of a husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code”.

Mumbai police had questioned the two for more than four hours on Friday, after which they were arrested. Later, Shukul met Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil and pleaded for a separate inquiry.

“Navin had been having an affair with a Delhi-based married woman for the last 20 years. Geetanjali walked into the marriage in 1999 unaware of this. When she came to know, they started having regular fights. She wanted to make the marriage work, so she stayed on. But he was also an alcoholic and abusive,” Shukul said.

Gaikwad said last December Navin had assaulted Geetanjali while demanding money. “There were some witnesses to the whole episode. But no case was registered as Geetanjali had backed out later.”

The out-of-work actor, who had made a name for himself on the small screen, survived on bit roles in Bollywood.

“Navin was in a bad financial shape and the house they were living in belonged to my mother. They shifted there after Navin’s brother Praveen threw them out of their residence earlier this year. Navin had bought the house in Praveen’s name many years back,” Shukul said.

Geetanjali’s family said Navin, pushed to the wall by his brother’s betrayal and his own need for money, turned more abusive towards his wife.

Navin’s lawyer, however, said Geetanjali suffered from chronic depression and may have taken her life in one of her bouts of depression.

He also claimed the couple’s marriage had “completely broken down”.