Conman Sukesh admitted to ₹215 crore heist: ED to Supreme Court

The agency added that Chandrasekhar’s food in Delhi’s Tihar Jail came from a five-star hotel and he also hosted parties inside the prison in complicity with jail officials.

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday opposed in the Supreme Court, a plea by conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, currently housed in Tihar, seeking a transfer to some other prison, citing admissions made by him during his custodial interrogation, and warning the court that the transfer application was motivated by a desire to set up in another jail, the kind of racket he allegedly ran inside Tihar.

ED said Sukesh Chandrasekhar’s food in Delhi’s Tihar Jail came from a five-star hotel and he also hosted parties inside the prison in complicity with jail officials. (ANI)

Chandrasekhar, 33, has admitted to pulling off a ₹215 crore heist within prison by duping former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Mohan’s wife Aditi Singh, masquerading on phone as Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, ED told the Supreme Court on Monday.

The agency added that Chandrasekhar’s food in Delhi’s Tihar Jail came from a five-star hotel and he also hosted parties inside the prison in complicity with jail officials.

Opposing the conman’s plea to shift him from Tihar to some other jail in the country over alleged threats to his life, ED maintained that Chandrasekhar accepted his crimes during the custodial interrogation and that he now wanted a transfer only to repeat his criminal acts in a new prison.

“During ED custody, Chandrasekhar admitted that he impersonated as Law Secretary Anup Kumar and Home secretary Ajay Bhalla. He admitted to collecting cash from Aditi Singh…He admitted that he used mobile-based application ‘hushed’ and ‘crazy call’ for voice modulation and purchased virtual numbers,” claimed the agency’s application in the top court.

ED’s application was mentioned on Monday before the bench of justices CT Ravi Kumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia by solicitor general Tushar Mehta, as the law officer urged the court to hear the agency before Chandrasekhar’s request for transfer was entertained any further.

The court agreed to hear the agency on Tuesday when it would consider Chandrasekhar’s plea that he was facing threats to his life in Tihar where several police officials are currently facing probe for receiving bribes from him for undue favours inside prison.

On Friday, the court asked the Centre to take a decision by Monday on shifting Chandrasekhar to another jail. ED, however, moved the fresh application on Monday, giving out details of charges and the investigation in cases involving Chandrasekhar.

“Chandrasekhar is a habitual offender and has been charged with cheating people and is a known conman. On various occasions inside the jail premises, he has reportedly been found possessing mobile phone and making calls, impersonating various Government functionaries and holders of constitutional posts to gain benefits. It has been found that Chandrasekhar and his wife Leena were running organized crime syndicate,” stated the agency’s application.

It added that Chadrasekhar contacted Aditi Singhin June 2020, impersonating first as the Union law secretary and then as Union home secretary Bhalla. ₹215 crore was extorted from Aditi Singh on the pretext that the Union home minister and the Prime Minister’s Officer (PMO) officials were also in the know of the deal that involved getting her husband out on bail if she paid the money.

“The proceeds of crime were used to purchase cars, house in Chennai, various luxury items, clothes etc, and was utilised to open a salon for his wife (Leena Paulose, a co-accused who too is lodged at Tihar), to give expensive gifts to celebrities and to jail authorities to manage facilities in jail,” added ED.

The agency referred to Paulose’s statement to it on how Chandrasekhar partied inside Tihar. “Leena further stated that she had seen Chandrasekhar having parties (consuming alcohol, chicken and mutton) in Tihar jail through video calls…she had also seen that his food used to come from Hotel Taj in Tihar jail,” said the ED’s plea.

In its application, ED further maintained that TV actors Nikita Tamboli, Sophia Singh and Chahat Khanna have admitted that they met Chandrasekhar in Tihar Jail on different occasions and also “received money and gifts from him”.

According to the agency, it also has a statement from Leepakshi Ellawadi, a costume designer and image consultant who has said that she was hired by Chandrasekhar as a stylist for actor Jacqueline Fernandes for her personal and professional styling.

Asking the court to reject Chandrasekhar’s plea, the agency contended that the petition was moved with the ulterior motive to get Chandrasekhar out of Tihar Jail so as to be able to have the possibility to build a fresh nexus with jail officials elsewhere.

Chandrasekhar was first arrested by the Delhi Police in 2017 for allegedly duping an AIADMK leader of ₹2 crore on the pretext of helping the politician retain the party’s two leaves symbol by bribing Election Commission officers.

When he was lodged in Delhi’s Rohini jail between July 2020 and September 2021, the police received a complaint (in August 2021) that he had duped her. As on date, 34 criminal cases under charges of cheating, extortion, attempt to murder and bribing public officials are pending against Chandrasekhar with most pending trial before various Delhi courts.

The special cell of Delhi police is currently investigating a large number of jail and police officials for allegedly colluding with Chandrasekhar.

In a press statement issued through his lawyer on December 31, Chandrasekhar had denied the allegations of extortion and cheating, claiming he was targeted by the government agencies. He also said that he was not a conman but a corporate lobyyist. This statement was released soon after ED filed its charge sheet in a Delhi court in connection to Aditi Singh’s case.