Poonam Pandey mystery deepens: Questions raised, ‘Fake news’ alleges a co-star
Updated: Feb 3rd, 2024
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| Poonam Pandey (Instagram) |
The demise of actor and model Poonam Pandey has left the industry both shocked and befuddled. Pandey’s family has gone incommunicado and has not revealed details of her last rites or mortal remains.
After the news of her demise, shared by her team on the actor’s social media, but as the day went by, reports of Pandey’s death gave way to speculation.
Her last Instagram post, before the one announcing her death, was a video of her attending an event in Goa.
Many users on the net questioned Pandey’s whereabouts. Her bodyguard, Amin Khan, told the media that he had been left shocked by the news. He shared that he had tried to contact her sister but got no response from her. Khan also divulged that Pandey’s family home in Kanpur is locked.
He said he got to know about Pandey’s death from the media and he did not believe the news. He told the media that she always looked fit and fine and never shared anything about her health.
A video of the actress in which she claimed to be bringing along a piece of ‘big news’ has also surfaced on the Internet.
She said in the video, "Aapke saamne ek itna bada news aane wala hai. Mujhe bahut accha lagta hai logon ko surprise karna.
“Jab wo samajhte hain ki yeh sudhar rahi hai, tab mujhe surprise karna aur bhi accha lagta hai. Toh ek bahut hi bada news aapke saamne aane wala hai (I will share a big news soon. I like to surprise people, especially when people think I am changing, I like to surprise them even more. So, I am going to share some big news soon).”
On Feb 2, the news agency went to her housing society, The Park in the Oshiwara area of Mumbai, people in the neighbourhood said the actress hadn’t been at her home for the last two days and no movement had been seen in it.
Throughout the day, there has been no sign of any activity inside or outside her building. A security guard at the housing society told the agency, “She hasn't been home for two days. Her driver last went out of the building around 3:45 p.m. today (Feb 2).”
Reports from Pune also suggest that there is no movement in or around her home in that city. It was then rumoured that she had gone to Kanpur where she passed away.
Pandey’s publicist was not answering the agency’s phone calls after issuing the statement that she received the information about the death of the actress from a relative of hers.
The mail that carries the name of Nikita Sharma as Pandey’s manager carried fake contact details that trace back to a person in West Bengal who hasn't even heard about the actress.
Co-star calls it ‘fake news’
Vinit Kakar, who was a co-contestant with Pandey in the first season of the Kangana Ranaut-hosted reality show 'Lock Upp', dismissed the news about the death of the reality TV star as ‘100% fake’, but he added that it was not a publicity stunt as alleged by certain sections of the media.
Kakar said: “I get the feeling this news is fake. I know Poonam, she is a strong lady. I have spent two weeks with her on the show ‘Lock Upp’. I know her personality and character... She is a very strong lady.”
Kakar added that he had met her during the premiere of Kangana Ranaut’s 2022 film ‘Dhaakad’, and more recently at the birthday party of the ‘Lock Upp’ director.
“This was three or four months back. We partied together and I never got the feeling that she was suffering from any serious illness. She was looking healthy and was in good spirits,” Kakar said.
He added: “This is fake news and within a couple of days you will come to know that this is so. Her phone is unavailable, maybe somebody has hacked her Instagram account or her manager's account. Anything can happen. I cannot believe that this news is real.”
He said, “It is hard to believe something as serious as cervical cancer happened to her and there were no symptoms. How could this have happened so suddenly?”
“I don't know why and who is doing this. Someone is saying her body is in Pune, others are saying it is in Kanpur. Till her family members speak on this, I will not believe the news.”
He added: “The numbers of her family members are out of reach right now. I will not trust anyone else on this matter.”
Actor Sambhavna Seth has gone on record saying that she met Pandey with a common friend some days back and the reality TV actress made no reference to suffering from cancer, nor did she show any signs of it.
"Just think how strong she was, she never even mentioned it," Seth told a news channel.
As mystery blankets the whereabouts of the actress, no details are available yet about her funeral.
(Compiled from IANS)
-Edited for style
