Is EastEnders' Kheerat gone for good after huge sacrifice leads to arrest?
And has his plan worked?
Kheerat Panesar (Jaz Deol) appeared to make a shock, unannounced exit from EastEnders tonight (10th November), as he was arrested for the murder of Ranveer Gulati (Anil Goutam) - and it seems this was a genuine exit from actor, Deol.
With his mum Suki (Balvinder Sopal) having been in police custody for the same murder, Kheerat spent the week trying to save his mum from being jailed. This led to the discovery that his half-brother Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) had been working with Nina Gupta (Hersha Verity) the whole time, and Nina planned to stitch up Suki.
Ravi is the true killer, but he held this information back even as he turned against Nina. And after Suki sent heartfelt messages to Kheerat and her love interest Eve Unwin (Heather Peace), Kheerat's worry for his mother reached new heights and he decided to take the rap for her.
Kheerat's girlfriend Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) was furious with Eve for not trying to talk Kheerat out of it when he asked her for legal advice, and when Suki was released pending further investigation, Stacey accosted her and filled her in.
Reunited with Suki, Kheerat was issued with a slap as she insisted he wasn't to hand himself in under any circumstances. But ultimately, Kheerat was determined to carry out his plan, He said his goodbyes to siblings Ash (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha) and Vinny (Shiv Jalota), and Stacey broke down as Kheerat revealed how much she meant to him.
Outside, a police car arrived and Kheerat gave himself up. As he was driven out of Albert Square, there seemed something very final about the scenes. So, is that the last we'll see of Kheerat?
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Has Kheerat left EastEnders for good?
It's been confirmed that Jaz Deol has indeed left EastEnders as Kheerat Panesar.
A statement released by the BBC, said (via Digital Spy): " "We can confirm that Jaz has left EastEnders and we wish him all the very best for the future."
The show has, of course, been known to air sudden departures for characters, so it's certainly a plausible exit for Kheerat.
But Kheerat has become a popular mainstay, and there's a huge injustice in him heading to prison for a crime that Ravi committed. With that bombshell still waiting to explode, we hope that the big reveal will coincide with Kheerat's return - that's if we're not given any further glimpses of the character for now.
Surely tough matriarch Suki should be the one to uncover Ravi's betrayal and make him pay?
Then there's the fact that Kheerat and Ravi's father Nish (Navin Chowdhry) has found the footage of the murder on a laptop at home. Did he see proof of Ravi's role in Ranveer's death? If so, he's also responsible for Kheerat's fate.
Nish is cold and manipulative, while Kheerat is the good guy in this woeful tale. From the viewers' perspective, this can't be the end of his story just yet. But it's not up to us...
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Authors
Laura Denby is a Freelance Soaps writer covering all the latest news in the Dales, Cobbles and East End for Radio Times. She's a soaps nerd with a love for comedy drama, and has also written for Digital Spy, Metro UK and Yahoo UK.
