Varsha Shot Herself With Asha Bhosle’s Misplaced Pistol

Asha Bhosle's 56-year-old daughter Varsha had reportedly used her mother's misplaced gun to kill herself at her Peddar Road residence on Monday.

On Tuesday, Asha had cleared all doubts about the gun, saying that it was registered under her name and she had misplaced it some 30 years ago.

"Varsha was depressed owing to her loneliness and she had also distanced herself from everyone in the past one year. Varsha was being treated for depression, acute pain in her leg and diabetes. Lately, she seemed disconnected from the outside world. She had even stopped using her cell phone," Mid-Day quoted Asha Bhosle telling the police.

"The pistol that Varsha used to shoot herself is registered in my name. It is very old and it had been lost. We don't know how Varsha got her hands on it," she added.

Earlier, police found out that two licenced guns were issued - one to Varsh'a maternal uncle and the other one to her younger brother Anand. But the pistol which she used did not belong to either of them.

"Her brother Anand has a licenced .45 pistol while Varsha's maternal uncle, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, has a.32 pistol. However, Varsha had used a Belgium-made Browning pistol, which is different from the two issued to her family members," The Times of India quoted a senior police officer as saying.

On Tuesday, police recorded a statement from Asha, Varsha's cousin Rachna Shah and her aunt Usha Mangeshkar. Police are awaiting the return of Asha's son who is currently in Singapore.

Varsha had shot herself early Monday at her Prabhu Kunj apartment. According to the post-mortem report, the bullet injury caused excessive bleeding that lead to her death.