Amruta Fadnavis blackmailing case: Aniksha Jaisinghani desperate to get her bookie father off the hook, says chargesheet

Aniksha Jaisinghani was desperate to get her father, bookie Anil Jaisinghani, cleared of several criminal cases registered against him, and with this motive she approached Amruta Fadnavis, wife of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the special investigation team (SIT) of Mumbai police has said in its chargesheet

Aniksha Jaisinghani was desperate to get her father, bookie Anil Jaisinghani, cleared of several criminal cases registered against him, and with this motive she approached Amruta Fadnavis, wife of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the special investigation team (SIT) of Mumbai police has said in its chargesheet.

Mumbai: Alleged bookie Anil Jaisinghani being taken to custody after a court remanded him to police custody till March 27 in a case related to alleged attempt to blackmail and bribe Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, in Mumbai, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (PTI Photo)(PTI03_21_2023_000344A) (PTI)

The Malabar Hill police have arrested Anil, Aniksha and his cousin Nirmal on charges of bribing and blackmailing the complainant, Amruta Fadnavis. Assistant commissioner of police Ravi Sardesai, who headed the SIT, on Thursday filed a 733-page chargesheet before a special court, set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Taking cognisance of the chargesheet, the court on Friday said prima facie a case was made out against the accused and issued process against Aniksha and Nirmal. The court also issued a warrant for production of Anil who is presently in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody.

As per the chargesheet, the police had recorded statements of 13 key witnesses, mostly the staff and two policemen posted at Sagar bungalow in Malabar Hill where Amruta Fadnavis stays, and a fashion designer.

“The statement under section 164 was important as the fashion designer used to record on Aniksha’s phone whenever she would meet Amruta Fadnavis. However, she was not aware of Aniksha’s motive behind the recording. Aniksha used to offer costly dresses to the complainant which as per industry trend are worn and later returned after the programme,” the police officer said.

The chargesheet said Aniksha’s motive was to get her father off the hook and for that she tried to lure Amruta Fadnavis with ₹1 crore bribe. But when that didn’t work, Aniksha demanded ₹10 crore from her threatening to circulate the voice and video clips, purportedly containing the conversations between the two, that she possessed, the document said.

“Aniksha had shot a video in which she was seen filling ₹1 crore in cash in a bag at her house in Ulhasnagar and later made another video when she handed the bag over to a servant of Amruta Fadnavis. However, a forensic analysis has already concluded that the videos were doctored and there was nothing in the bag when it was given to the servant. We have attached the forensic report to the chargesheet,” the police officer said.

Amruta Fadnavis, in her complaint filed on February 20, said the father and daughter had allegedly blackmailed her and tried to extort ₹10 crore from her.

Posing as a fashion designer, Aniksha had befriended Amruta Fadnavis in November 2021 and later gained her trust by saying that 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, the complainant said.

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