Mumbai: Kannada film actress Marrayya Monica Susayraj had told her naval officer boyfriend M. L. Jerome Mathew that she was maintaining an intimate relationship with TV production house executive Neeraj Grover only to get a role, the police said on Saturday.

Mathew was unhappy with Susayraj’s relationship with Grover and had told her so. The actress, who had been meeting Grover since March-end and had even stayed at his place for three days, assured Mathew that her relationship was just to get a role, they said.

“She had told Mathew that her loyalties were only with him; she would marry him and that her relationship with Grover was just for landing a role in a TV serial,” a top crime branch officer said on condition of anonymity.

The officer also said that Mathew had flown into Mumbai on May 7. “He came here just to frighten Grover but it ended up in the murder.”

The police had said on Friday that Grover’s murder on the morning of May 7 was a “premeditated” act by Susayraj and Mathew. The top officer clarified on Saturday saying the police were sure to prove that the killing was a “criminal conspiracy”.

“It is amply clear from the call records that Susayraj called Grover first and then called Mathew saying the former was behaving funny with her due to which the naval officer took the first flight out of Kochi,” he said.

Grover, a creative head with Synergy Adlabs, was allegedly stabbed to death by Mathew inside Susayraj’s apartment in suburban Malad on May 7.

Susayraj and Mathew allegedly chopped Grover’s body to several pieces and then disposed it of by burning it at Manor in the neighbouring Thane district. PTI

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