The Doon school alumnus was killed earlier last month by two junior artistes she befriended on the sets of Madhur Bhandarkar's " Heroine ". The duo, Amit Jaiswal and Priti Surin, from UP, killed her in a bid to extort money from her family, as Thapa had told them that she belongs to a rich Nepalese family and acting was a hobby for her.

In reality, Thapa was a dancer by profession, and her father is employed with the ONGC. She started her career in Bollywood by doing bit roles, acting in "Saher" and "404", parts of which were shot in Doon.

Last year, after she was selected for "404", she'd told us, "I was lucky to land a meaty role as a newcomer. My parents too are happy.

Though they were apprehensive earlier, they are now open to the idea..

. I've been asked to move to Mumbai, which I am planning to do shortly.

I want to take a chance in Bollywood." Thapa also had a diploma in aviation from Frankfinn Institute, but she'd said that it was dance that fascinated her.

She was working as a dance teacher with St Joseph's Academy and Yeti Skates in Dehradun at the time, before moving to Mumbai. The acting bug took the MKP PG College graduate to Mumbai, where she met the two accused, Amit and Priti, both of whom reportedly hail from Allahabad.

According to reports in Allahabad papers, Amit Jaiswal (who's married and has two kids) ran a coaching centre in Allahabad, where Priti worked, and where the two came close. After Amit - whose father is a reputed lawyer in Allahabad - faced opposition from his family for his proximity to Priti - whose father is a school employee - they ran away to Mumbai in July 2011.

Amit only came back to Allahabad once after that, in September 2011, to meet his ailing father. He left again for Mumbai despite repeated requests to stay back, and told his family he was earning `16,000 per month in a bank.

But locals say that everyone knew that Lale (as Amit is known in the neighbourhood) was acting in Bhojpuri films in Mumbai, and that he always wanted a lavish lifestyle. Perhaps that's what pushed Amit and Priti to kill Thapa, who had shifted to Mumbai only two months back.

After befriending her, they took her to Gorakhpur in March this year on the pretext of work, where they allegedly beheaded her, while also asking for money from her family. Says Deven Bharti, additional commissioner of police, crime, Mumbai, "When Meenakshi became friends with Amit and Priti, she led them to believe that she came from an affluent family and was acting as a hobby.

As Amit and Priti needed money, they conspired to kidnap her and demand a ransom. They demanded `15 lakh from her family, but her mother could only arrange `60,000.

When they realised that Meenakshi was of no use to them, they killed her. They disposed her body in a water tank in Allahabad and threw her head out of a running bus.

We've sent a team to UP to find her severed body." Cops further stated that Meenakshi's brother Navraj had lodged a missing complaint a month ago in Mumbai, while her mother filed a complaint at a Dehradun police station.

Sanjay Satardekar, inspector, Mumbai, crime branch, said, "The accused have confessed to their crime, now we will further investigate the case, and once the charge sheet is filed, the two will be produced in court. Navraj in his statement told us that the accused used to send threatening messages and demand ransom through SMS.

We traced Meenakshi's mobile phone to track their location." Satardekar added that "After killing Meenakshi, the accused took her mobile and ATM card.

Once the `60,000 ransom money was trasferred to Meenakshi's account, they withdrew that money and went to Vaishno Devi." Prawaal Raman, "404"'s director, told us, "I do remember a very nervous girl on my set, for she was a local with no experience whom my team shortlisted for a small scene.

She shot with us for an hour or so, and managed to deliver. It's sad that she tried following her dream but fell victim to few who unfortunately believe in short cuts.

A lot of newcomers believe in immediately attaining a flashy lifestyle, without even bothering to focus on a substantial body of work." (With inputs from Garima Sharma, Anjali Nauriyal and Suruchi Sharma) (less)