Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt's former personal assistant Vedika Shetty, who has been arrested for cheating her of Rs 76.90 lakh, had claimed she Shilpa Shetty and Suniel Shetty's relative. The revelation was been made by actress Urvashi Rautela's mother soon after reports of Vedika's arrest surfaced on Wednesday (July 9).

For those unversed, irregularities were found by Alia's mother, veteran actress Soni Razdan, in the production company and her personal accounts. Police reportedly stated that the fraud was allegedly committed by Vedika between May 2022 and August 2024.

Urvashi's mother, Meera Rautela, has revealed that they also faced a similar experience with Vedika, who worked with the actress as her personal assistant.

"During her employment, Vedika claimed to be a relative of actors Shilpa Shetty and Suniel Shetty. She also caused financial and emotional distress to our family. Vedika was in a position of trust, and her actions constitute a serious breach of that trust," Meera said.

Opening up about how she broke their trust, the actress' mother revealed, "Vedika was employed as a 24x7 executive assistant to my daughter during 2015 to 2017. She was hired to assist Urvashi after she returned from Miss Universe in Las Vegas and subsequently during the handover of Miss Universe India crown in 2016. At this time, she was entrusted with various responsibilities, starting from Urvashi's wardrobe and personal belongings. However, soon we realised that she had engaged in multiple acts of theft and deceit which caused a great deal of financial loss to the family."

Urvashi's mother claims Vedika tried to steal money

She further added, "During the Miss Universe India crown handover ceremony in 2016, my mother (Urvashi's grandmother) travelled from Nainital to our residence in Mumbai to attend the event. While she was staying at our home, Vedika, who had access to our house as Urvashi’s assistant stole money, amounting to lakhs of rupees, from my mother’s briefcase. This incident occurred when my mother was temporarily away from her belongings during her visit to the doctor and Vedika took advantage of her absence to commit the theft."

"During the same ceremony, I was at the fittings for the red carpet with my tailor. My purse was left in the care of Vedika, as she was assisting with the preparations. While standing in front of a mirror, I witnessed Vedika stealing money from my purse. When confronted, she denied the act, but I was certain of what I saw," Meera further stated.