‘Designer’ Anshika Jaisinghani tried to extort ₹10 crore from Amruta Fadnavis: Cops

‘Designer’ Anshika Jaisinghani, who was arrested for allegedly threatening and blackmailing Amruta Fadnavis, tried to extort ₹10 crore after failing to offer ₹1 crore bribe to the wife of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On Friday, the Mumbai Police added an extortion section against Jaisinghani.

“Extortion section 385 of the Indian Penal Code has been added against the accused, who threatened to make two videos viral and demanded a bribe from Amruta Fadnavis,” said an officer of Mumbai Police.

Jaisinghani was arrested from Ulhasnagar on Thursday. The arrest was made after Amruta filed a complaint with Mumbai Police alleging she was threatened and asked to pay a bribe of ₹10 crore by an acquaintance whom she identified as Anishka.

While the FIR was registered against Jaisinghani and her father Anil Jaisinghani on February 20, alleging a bribe offer of ₹1 crore to Amruta, police officers said an extortion attempt was made a couple of days after the FIR, The Indian Express reported.

“The accused woman had sent two videos to Amruta Fadnavis, threatening to make them viral unless she paid a bribe of ₹10 crore. The videos were not made by the accused woman,” news agency ANI quoted a police officer as saying.

The Mumbai Police said they were on the lookout for the person who made the videos with which the accused woman tried to extort the deputy chief minister’s wife.

“A case was registered against Aniksha and her father for allegedly trying to extort ₹10 crore from Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis,” Mumbai Police said on Thursday.

Accused had known Amruta Fadnavis for over 16 months

The police said Jaisinghani had known Amruta for more than 16 months. After allegedly receiving calls and messages on her phone, Amruta filed a complaint at the Malabar Hill Police station on Thursday, police said, adding that they were searching for the second accused, her father Anil Jaisinghani.

According to the police, Anil Jaisinghani, a bookie, is wanted in 16 cases and has been absconding for five years.

While seeking her custody, police said the 26-year-old wanted to “deliberately fix the public servant”, Devendra Fadnavis, and therefore, charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act had been invoked in the case, The Indian Express report added.

“The photos and a report from the FSL categorically show how and in what manner the conspiracy was planned to fix the informant and ultimately the public servant,” chief public prosecutor Jaysing Desai told a special court in Mumbai which granted her custody to the police until March 21 on the ground that her custodial interrogation was necessary for further investigation.