Asha Bhosle confirms that the pistol used by her daughter to commit suicide was registered under her name, which she had misplaced years ago

Singer Asha Bhosle yesterday confirmed that her daughter Varsha, who shot herself in the head in the wee hours on Monday, was a patient of depression and had made herself virtually invisible from public life for a year.

Asha also put an end to the mystery surrounding the ownership of the pistol used by the 56-year-old columnist to shoot herself. The singer revealed that she was the owner of the weapon, and had earlier misplaced it.

A team of police officials from Gamdevi police station visited Asha's Prabhu Kunj building at Peddar Road yesterday, and as a part of the investigation, had a brief conversation with her.

`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, ` said Asha to the police team.


The police revealed that Asha had returned from Singapore on Monday around 10 pm, and soon after that her family performed the last rites at the Chandanwadi crematorium in Marine Lines.

`Asha was inconsolable. Hence her lawyer, who was present at the residence, asked us to wait for her son's arrival before starting the process of recording statements, ` said an inspector from Gamdevi police station.

Though cops only managed to have a brief conversation with Asha, she told them that the weapon used by her daughter to commit suicide actually belongs to her.

`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 said.


Sources revealed that there are two other guns in the family: Asha's brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar owns a.32 pistol, while her son Anand owns a.45 pistol.

Varsha had used a Belgian make Baby Browning, which she placed against her left temple and pulled the trigger early on Monday.

Cops said that they would be recording a formal statement from Asha very soon. They are also awaiting the return of Asha's son from Singapore.