Varsha used my lost pistol, Asha Bhosle tells cops

Mumbai, Oct 10 (IANS) Singer Asha Bhosle has said that her daughter Varsha committed suicide here with a pistol that belonged to her and which she had lost nearly 30 years ago, police said Wednesday.

Varsha, 56, shot herself in the head Monday. She was the second of the three children of Asha and Ganpatrao Bhosle and stayed mostly with her mother at Prabhu Kunj building in south Mumbai's Peddar Road.

Initially, police recovered a Belgian-made pistol from the spot which was registered in the name of Anand, Asha Bhosle's youngest son.

"We spoke to Asha briefly Tuesday night, when she claimed that her daughter committed suicide with the pistol she had lost. Asha had informed police about the lost pistol and her licence had been revoked," Inspector Pradip Lonandkar told IANS.

Lonandkar said that police also have another pistol in their possession registered in the name of Anand. "Anand is not in town and might return soon. We are likely to question him Thursday," he said.

Investigators said that they were inquiring how Varsha found the lost pistol and whether she had hidden the weapon 30 years ago.

Police sources said that the post mortem report confirmed that Varsha died of haemorrhagic shock due to bullet injuries. Three loaded cartridges were also found in the pistol she used to kill herself.

Varsha, who used to work as a freelance journalist, was divorced from sports journalist Hemant Kenkre. She wrote columns for web portal Rediff.com, The Sunday Observer newspaper and the Gentleman magazine, among others.

She had also been a playback singer for some Hindi and Marathi movies and performed in a few concerts alongside her mother.

She was depressed for many years and had also tried to commit suicide in 2008 and 2010 by consuming heavy doses of sleeping pills.