Shraddha Musale of 'CID' fame calls Dinesh Phadnis 'dil ka saaf insaan'

New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) Actress Shraddha Musale on Tuesday expressed her grief over the untimely demise of her ‘CID’ co-actor Dinesh Phadnis, and recalled fond memories with him, adding that he was ‘dil ka saaf insaan’.

Dinesh, who played the role of 'Fredericks' in the India's longest running television show 'CID', passed away in Mumbai.

Talking to IANS, Shraddha expressed her condolences, saying, “This was kind of sudden for us. Like we knew he was a little unwell, a little bit of liver and heart issues. For the past six months the health issues had increased a bit, so we knew that his health is not good. But in the past 3-4 days it has deteriorated more.”

“He was hospitalised, but he was okay. Suddenly one night it got worse liver and kidney, then into heart. Then he had to be on the ventilator. We still had hopes, dialysis was also going on, but last night he passed away,” she shared.

The ‘Porus’ actress further said: “We often get together. He didn’t come in the last few get-togethers, and he said that he is not keeping well.”

“On phone we were in touch. And everybody, even the past CID officers, people very fondly remember him. He was the sweetest soul of today’s times. He was very pure at heart; and you rarely find such people. He was ‘dil ka saaf insaan’,” said Shraddha.

The actress continued: “We are very close to his wife also. She is a sweetheart too.”

Speaking about the fond memories shared with Dinesh, Shraddha told IANS: “What I feel is that we had a ‘dil se dil wala’ connection. We had many hearty one-on one talks with each other. He used to listen to everything that you share with him.”

“We both used to talk in Marathi. The Marathi language brought us together. He used to bring tiffin from home. There used to be heart to heart conversations with him on sets, and also outside. We had an attachment with the star cast of the show, but there was also a one on one attachment with Dinesh ji. And that was something different,” she said.

Shraddha continued: “I miss having those conversations with him. He had a particular place in the green room. Off set he used to wear a black T-shirt. I can visualise him right now at his place, doing his things, and talking.”

The 39-year-old concluded saying the cremation is almost done, adding that she was with his wife.

The actor was 57 years old, and was on ventilator support.

Dinesh was suffering from extensive liver damage, and was hospitalised on December 1.

As per reports, the 57-year-old actor was admitted to Mumbai's Tunga Hospital. Earlier, there were reports that the actor had suffered a heart attack which actor Dayanand Shetty had dismissed.