Jackie Shroff’s wife questioned in call data records scam

Another private detective was arrested on Wednesday and sent to police custody till April 17

The Thane crime branch recorded the statement of Ayesha Shroff, wife of actor Jackie Shroff, on Thursday in connection with the call data records scam.

Ayesha Shroff

Abhishek Trimukhe, deputy commissioner of police of the Thane crime branch, said, “We have recorded her statement in the morning and have got important information related to the scam. We will verify the information furnished by her.”

The scam came to light on January 24 when four private detectives were arrested for allegedly illegally procuring call data records. They used to sell the data for Rs25,000 to Rs50,000. Makesh Pandiyan, 42, Prashant Palekar, 49, Jigar Makawana, 35, and Samresh Jha alias Pratik Mohpal, 32, were arrested from Kalwa.

As many as 14 people have been arrested, including an Assam police constable who was arrested by the police of that state. He will be questioned by the Assam police.

Earlier Rajani Pandit, India’s first woman private detective, was also arrested and granted bail last month.

Meanwhile, another private detective was arrested on Wednesday and sent to police custody till April 17. Jignesh Jayantilal Chedda from Thane runs a private detective agency.

An officer of the Thane crime branch said, “We have arrested Cheddha. We have recovered CDRs from his office. We have found that Cheddha had obtained call data records from Makesh Pandiyan in the past couple of years.”

The Thane crime branch has filed a 2,163-page charge sheet.