Amruta Fadnavis blackmailing case: Chargesheet filed against Anil Jaisinghani, daughter

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Mumbai police on Thursday filed a chargesheet against bookie Anil Jaisinghani, his daughter Aniksha and his cousin Nirmal before a special court, set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Mumbai police on Thursday filed a chargesheet against bookie Anil Jaisinghani, his daughter Aniksha and his cousin Nirmal before a special court, set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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)

The trio was arrested by the Malabar Hill police on charges of bribing and blackmailing Amruta Fadnavis, wife of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The police have mentioned 13 witnesses in their 733-page chargesheet filed by ACP Ravi Sardesai.

The police had initially booked the accused under section 8 (taking gratification, in order, by corrupt or illegal means, to influence public servant) and 12 (punishment for abetment of offences defined in section 7 or 11) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 120 (B) (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and later added section 385 (extortion).

“We have kept all the relevant sections in the chargesheet, especially section 173 (8) (open for further investigation) of the CrPc if we get more evidence in the case,” a police officer said.

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 said.

The police said Anil Jaisinghani has multiple cases of betting, cheating and misleading government officials registered against him in Maharashtra, Goa and Assam.

Anil and Nirmal were arrested on March 20 in Gujrat, four days after Aniksha was arrested.