Amruta Fadnavis blackmailing case: Court grants bail to bookie Anil Jaisinghani

Bookie Anil Jaisinghani, accused of trying to bribe and blackmail Amruta Fadnavis, has been granted bail by a special court under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Jaisinghani's daughter, Aniksha, was also arrested in connection with the case and was granted bail earlier. The father-daughter duo allegedly tried to extort ₹10 crore from Fadnavis by posing as a fashion designer and gaining her trust.

A special court under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Monday granted bail to bookie Anil Jaisinghani, who was arrested for allegedly trying to bribe and blackmail Amruta Fadnavis, wife of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Kalyan, India - March 16, 2023: Anil Jaisinghani and Akshan Anil Jaisinghani - The Malabar Hill police reached the residence of Aniksha Jaisinghani around 8 am, after an interrogation of about 6 hours she was taken to Mumbai, while her brother Akshan who was also present complained of illness followed by which he was taken to a nearby hospital, in Kalyan, India, on Thursday, March 16, 2023. (Photo by Pramod Tambe/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Special judge D D Almale granted Jaisinghani bail on furnishing a personal bond of ₹50,000 and one or two sureties in the same amount. Jaisinghani was arrested on March 20 following the arrest of his daughter Aniksha on March 16. Aniksha was granted bail on March 27.

According to the FIR registered by the Malabar Hill police on February 20, the father-daughter duo allegedly blackmailed Amruta Fadnavis and tried to extort ₹10 crore from her.

Posing as a fashion designer, Aniksha had befriended Amruta Fadnavis in November 2021 and gained her trust by saying she had lost her mother and the whole family was dependent on her, police officers said. As per the FIR, Aniksha requested the complainant to wear her label to promote it and the latter agreed to it. Aniksha even visited the deputy CM’s residence and showed up at public events attended by Amruta Fadnavis, the complaint said.

Aniksha later offered to relay information about cricket bookies to her, saying they could both make money off it and when the complainant stopped communicating with her, Aniksha offered her a bribe of ₹1 crore in exchange for clearing her father of all charges, the police said. After that, Amruta Fadnavis blocked her, the complaint said.

A few days later, Aniksha sent her a few audio and video recordings, which purportedly showed that the latter was accepting favour from the former and said if she did not pay her ₹10 crore those clips would be made public, the FIR added.