6 minutes agoAuthor: Efat Qureshi
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Today in Unsuni Daastaane we are going to tell the story of the murder of 2008, which shook the whole of Mumbai. There are 3 main characters in this story.
First character- Neeraj Grover, who used to work in casting at Balaji Production House.
The second character- Maria Monica Susairaj, Kannada actress who came to Mumbai to try her luck in Hindi films.
The third character- Lieutenant, Jerome Mathew, Maria's boyfriend to whom she was engaged.
It was May 2008…
26-year-old Neeraj Grover suddenly went missing one day. He was helping his girlfriend and Kannada actress Maria Susairaj shift house, but no one saw him after that.
Many hours passed, then days and then weeks, but there was no news of Neeraj. Posters were pasted all over the city to find Neeraj, but the result was zero.
Finally, the police got information about Neeraj's location from a mobile network tower. That one call exposed the entire gruesome murder case.
The first arrest in the case was of actress Maria Susairaj, and later the revelations that were made shocked everyone. Neeraj was murdered, the killers had sex in front of his dead body and then a few hours later his body was cut into 300 pieces.
Read the horrifying story of Neeraj Grover murder case and actress Maria Susairaj in 4 chapters of this unheard tale-
Born in a Christian family in Mysore, Maria Monica Susairaj was good at singing and dancing since childhood. Her father worked in a construction firm, while her uncle was a municipal corporation employee. Maria dreamt of becoming a heroine while actively participating in the school's cultural programs, but her family was against it.
When her family started pressuring her for marriage, one day Maria left her home in Mysore and settled in Bangalore.
By constantly visiting producers' offices in Bangalore, she got a place in Kannada cinema. After some small roles, Maria got a big break in Kannada cinema in the year 2002. She got work as the lead in the film Jute. She received appreciation for the film, but the film flopped.
Poster of Maria's film Jute released in 2002.
After this one work, she started getting small roles in a few more films. But Maria wanted to make a name for herself not in regional cinema but all over India. When she started getting less work in Kannada cinema, she turned to Mumbai.
Maria often used to go to Mumbai for auditions. One day, Maria met Neeraj Grover during an audition. Neeraj Grover had a good hold in Mumbai. He had been a part of shows like 'Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hain' hosted by Shahrukh Khan and 'Kahani Hamare Mahabharat Ki'. In the year 2008, he was working with Ekta Kapoor's popular production house Balaji Telefilms.
Neeraj Grover, who worked in Balaji Production House.
After meeting during the audition, Neeraj and Maria exchanged numbers and then they started talking. Neeraj told Maria that she is very beautiful and she should not have any problem in finding work. In response, Maria said that she has no contacts in Mumbai, due to which she is not getting work.
After listening to Maria, Neeraj assured her of help and arranged her audition at Balaji Telefilms. She used to come to Mumbai often for these auditions. With time, Maria started getting closer to Neeraj, although she was already in a long distance relationship with Jerome Mathew, a resident of Mysore, to whom she was about to get engaged. Jerome was in the Indian Army and was posted in Pune at that time.
Maria, who dreamed of becoming a big heroine and getting work, did not think it necessary to tell Neeraj that she was already in a relationship. With time, the two grew closer and one day Maria decided to shift to Mumbai. When Maria reached Mumbai, Neeraj gave her a place in his house.
It had been many months since they had been friends, but Maria was not getting any work from Neeraj. Neeraj had told his friends that Maria's auditions were getting rejected because of her Kannada accent, but to avoid hurting Maria, he would often make new excuses for not getting work.
While living in Neeraj's house, Maria also became good friends with his friends. She would often ask Neeraj's friends whether Neeraj was cheating on them? Is this like a casting couch?
Friends would often tell Maria that Neeraj was trying his best to get her a job. Meanwhile, whenever Maria spoke to her boyfriend Jerome Mathew, whenever Neeraj was mentioned, she would just say that Neeraj loved her one-sidedly and she considered him a friend. However, this was a false story.
After living in a live-in relationship with Neeraj for about a week, Maria rented flat number 201 of Dheeraj Solitaire Apartment in Malad.
7 May 2008
Maria had to leave Neeraj's flat and shift to a flat in Malad. After Maria left, Neeraj told his friends that he was going to help Maria in shifting. He left the house at around 10 pm.
The next morning, Neeraj's friend called on his number, and Maria received the call. Maria told his friend Lal that Neeraj had left the house at 1:30 in the night and in a hurry, he had left his phone in his flat. A few more hours passed, but Neeraj neither came to the flat nor came to pick up the phone. When Neeraj could not be contacted, his family and work colleagues were calling his friend Lal, but he had no information.
Finally, Lal reached Maria's flat on the evening of May 8. When he asked Maria who she had gone out with, she could not give any answer. After much thought, both of them finally lodged a complaint at the Malad Police Station.
The police seized Neeraj's phone and started looking for him. His close ones were questioned in the matter, but no information could be found. Two days later, his family members also came to Mumbai from Kanpur. A few days turned into two weeks, but there was no news of Neeraj. His family members printed his posters, in which a reward was announced for the person who gives his whereabouts, but that too was of no use.
A reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced for the person who would provide the address of Neeraj Grover.
Only 2 weeks had passed when the police started investigating the call records of the people involved in the case. The records revealed that on the evening of May 8, a call came on Neeraj's phone, which was received for a few seconds. After getting the mobile network tower records, the police's first suspicion fell on Maria Susairaj, because until the complaint, Neeraj's mobile was with Maria.
The police started investigating Maria without suspecting her. When Maria's call records were retrieved, the results were shocking. From May 8 to May 20, there were 1,000 calls between Maria and her boyfriend Jerome Mathew. This was not a normal thing. The call records and Jerome being in Mumbai that night further strengthened the police's suspicion on Maria.
Maria Susairaj's photo taken during her arrest. Maria was seen laughing during her arrest.
In this connection, Maria and her boyfriend Jerome Mathew were called for questioning. Maria told the same story in her statement as she had told earlier, while Jerome said that he had come to Mumbai for army training. The police did not confirm Jerome's statement from the Army Center, although they continued the investigation based on suspicion. When the security guard of Maria's building was questioned, he made a shocking revelation.
The security guard told them that on the evening of May 8, Maria and her boyfriend Matthew were seen carrying some heavy items in bags. This turned the police's suspicion into certainty. After collecting evidence, the police first arrested Maria.
Photo taken during the arrest of Jerome Mathew.
Maria kept changing her statements, but when strictness was exercised, she broke down. Everyone was shocked to hear the revelations made by Maria.
Maria confessed that Neeraj Grover was murdered on 8 May. Actually, Maria had called Neeraj on 7 May to help her with shifting. Both were spending quality time at home when Maria's boyfriend Jerome Mathew called. When Mathew heard Neeraj's voice coming from behind on the call, he got angry. Because he felt that Neeraj's intentions were not good for Maria. Seeing Jerome Mathew getting angry, Maria explained to him that he had come to help only as a friend. She would send him away after dinner. In response, Jerome said that it would not be good if Neeraj stayed with them.
The next day, on 8 May, the doorbell of Maria's flat was ringing. When Maria did not reach the door for a few seconds, the doorbell started ringing again and again. When she opened the door in a hurry, she saw Jerome standing at the door. Maria got scared on seeing him, because Neeraj was at her house at that time. Jerome entered the flat. Maria stopped him from entering the bedroom, but Jerome pushed her. As soon as Jerome entered the room, he saw Neeraj on his bed. On seeing this, he started beating Neeraj.
Mumbai Police taking Jerome Mathew into police custody.
Maria tried to stop them but failed. During the fight, Jerome brought a knife from the kitchen with which he stabbed Neeraj several times. Jerome's clothes were soaked in blood, there were blood splatters all over the room and Neeraj was slowly dying. As soon as Neeraj died, Maria immediately started cleaning the room. She cleaned the blood, changed the bedsheets and curtains and completely cleaned the blood from the dead body. Neeraj's dead body remained in their room for a few hours. During this time, Maria and Jerome had physical relations several times in the same room where the dead body was.
After some time, both of them went to a nearby shopping mall from where they purchased polybags and sharp knives.
After returning home, both of them together cut the body into 300 pieces. At around 4 pm, both of them left for Amgaon with all the pieces. They bought petrol on the way and after finding a deserted place, they filled petrol in a bag and set it on fire. When both of them went out to dispose of the body parts, Neeraj's phone was in Maria's jeans pocket. Neeraj's phone rang on the way, so Maria took the phone out of her pocket to see the number, at that time she received the call by mistake. That one call proved to be an important link in this murder case.
After the murder was revealed, Maria was sentenced to 3 years for hiding evidence and being a part of the murder, while Jerome Mathew was sentenced to 10 years. Many people from the film industry protested against Maria's mere 3-year sentence and demanded that her sentence be increased, however the court did not change the decision. There were also reports that Maria had received an offer for Bigg Boss 5, however she did not become a part of the show.
Photo of casting director Vikas Gupta taken during the protest.
After coming out of jail, complaints were filed against Maria in several cities including Mumbai and Gujarat for fraud worth crores. And in this way, Maria gained recognition across the country, but the reason for that was not her acting but this murder.
