Bollywood filmmaker Shakeel Noorani has been arrested by Mumbai Police following a complaint by a 33-year-old aspiring actor, who has accused him of rape, intimidation and poisoning.

The 73-year-old filmmaker was arrested from his farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar on Saturday after police traced him there following a search that lasted several weeks. According to reports, Noorani had gone into hiding after an FIR was registered against him. He was subsequently brought back to Mumbai and placed under arrest.

Woman alleges repeated sexual assault and blackmail

According to the woman's complaint, she had allegedly been sexually assaulted by Noorani repeatedly over a period of four years.

She alleged that Noorani had called her to his home in Mumbai's Malvani area on the pretext of discussing the script of an upcoming film. The woman claimed that her drink was spiked and that she was sexually assaulted after losing consciousness.

She further alleged that when she regained consciousness, Noorani showed her an intimate video on his phone and threatened to circulate it if she approached the police or told her family.

According to the police official quoted in reports, the woman alleged that the purported video was later used to intimidate her and that the alleged sexual assaults continued.

She also claimed that Noorani gave her contraceptive pills following the alleged assaults and later poisoned her, resulting in a miscarriage.

The complaint was lodged around 40 days before Noorani's arrest, according to reports.

Police traced Noorani to Mahabaleshwar

After the FIR was registered, police began looking for Noorani. Investigators also searched his son's residence in Lokhandwala, Andheri, but were unable to locate him.

Police eventually tracked him to his farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar using technical inputs. The location is more than 200 km from Mumbai.

He was arrested there on Saturday and taken to Mumbai, where he was produced before a local court. The court has remanded him to police custody until August 12.

Charges filed against the filmmaker

Police have booked Noorani under Sections 64, 123, 88 and 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), according to officials.

The case involves serious allegations, and the claims made by the complainant are yet to be established in court. Noorani's lawyer has denied the allegations against the filmmaker, according to a Times of India report.

Who is Shakeel Noorani?

Noorani has worked in the Hindi film industry as a filmmaker and is known for movies including ‘Joru Ka Ghulam’ and ‘Bade Dilwala’. The two films featured prominent actors Govinda and Suniel Shetty respectively.