Bookie held over bid to bribe Fadnavis’s wife

“While evading arrest, Jaisinghani was in constant touch with his daughter, Aniksha, who was arrested in the case last Thursday,” said an officer privy to the probe, on anonymity.

The Mumbai Police on Monday arrested 57-year-old Anil Jaisinghani for allegedly trying to bribe and blackmail Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s wife, Amruta Fadnavis, officials said.

Accused Anil Jaisinghani was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch from Gujarat’s Godhra. (Bhushan Koyande/ HT PHOTO)

The bookie was arrested after a three-day operation during which five teams of the city police fanned out in the state and neighbouring Gujarat, following his trail for around 750km.

Jaisinghani was nabbed around 11pm on Sunday after the police teams intercepted him, and two others at Kalol toll plaza in Godhra district of Gujarat, in a coordinated effort with the local police, officials said.

“The three were brought to the city on Monday, where Jaisinghani was formally arrested. The other two are being questioned,” said a police officer aware of the development.

Jaisinghani will be produced before a court on Tuesday, a police officer familiar with the case said.

“The three were handed over the ACP Ravi Sardesai, who is the investigating officer in the Amruta Fadnavis case,” deputy commissioner of police (cyber police) Balsingh Rajput said.

The police have seized mobile phones and other electronic devices from Jaisinghani and his call detail records are being scrutinised to find out with whom he was in touch with and who all were trying to help him to escape from the police, Rajput said.

“While evading arrest, Jaisinghani was in constant touch with his daughter, Aniksha, who was arrested in the case last Thursday,” said an officer privy to the probe, on anonymity.

“Jaisinghani and Aniksha will now be interrogated together in the Amruta Fadnavis case,” he added.

According to the police, Aniksha, posing as a fashion designer, befriended Amruta Fadnavis. She later offered to relay information about cricket bookies to Amruta, saying that they could both make money off it, said chief public prosecutor Jaisingh Desai.

When Amruta stopped communicating with her, Aniksha offered her a bribe of ₹1 crore in exchange for clearing Jaisinghani of all charges, said an official citing Amruta’s statement to the police.

After Amruta dismissed Aniksha, the 27-year-old threatened to reveal the details of their conversations, said the police.

The Malabar Hill police registered an FIR based on Amruta’s complaint on February 20.

In the FIR, Fadnavis claimed that she met Aniksha in November 2021, who introduced herself as a designer of clothes, jewellery and footwear. The FIR quoting Fadnavis stated that Aniksha visited their official bungalow several times and showed up at many of her public events requesting to be the brand ambassador for her clothes and jewellery.

Things, according to the FIR, began to sour when Aniksha not only sought her help to clear cases against her father but also offered her information about other bookies saying together, they could make money off the information.

Amruta Fadnavis said she refused to do so which is when Aniksha began to harass her with screenshots of messages, the two women had purportedly exchanged, including a video where a member of Fadnavis’s staff is seen counting some cash from a bag, the FIR stated. According to the FIR, Amruta Fadnavis told the Malabar Hill police station that Anisksha had once waylaid her when she was returning to Mumbai from Pune after a public event and offered her a bribe of ₹1 crore to save her father, an offer that she turned down.