New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS): Actor Hrishikesh Pandey, who played the character of Inspector Sachin in ‘C.I.D.’ has talked about Dinesh Phadnis and said that his late actor-friend’s health had deteriorated and his “liver and kidneys were infected.”

Dinesh played the role of 'Fredericks' in the India's longest running television show 'CID'. He passed away in Mumbai aged 57 on Tuesday.

“A lot of people showed that he got a heart attack and was hospitalised because of that. It's not like that. He had heart problems even when we were shooting together also. He was out of it, operated and done with that,” Hrishikesh told IANS.

“Now, after Covid a lot of things have changed. His liver and kidneys were infected. Things deteriorated. Health was down. This happened. For a couple of months he was going through all this and this is what happened. Eventually, he was on a ventilator. So, it was not about a heart attack,” said the actor, who called Dinesh is “family”.

Hrishikesh and other ‘C.I.D’ members went for the cremation of their late friend.

The actor said: “We haven't even slept since the time it happened we all were there. We now just cremated. All my friends were there. That shows how good he was with everybody and everybody cared about him. We were all like family."

Recalling memories with his dear Fredricks from the show, Hrishikesh said: “I can only say we have lost a family member because so many years of our time we have spent together, eating together. So it’s been more than a family because of the kind of time we spent. We were always in touch even after CID we were always going to each others’ house. We had just met (too).”

“So, it really feels bad and sad that one person is not there. But it is the beautiful memories that we have in our minds,” said the actor.