 "Anil Jaisinghani")
Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, had promised bookie Anil Jaisinghani that she would speak to her husband to help him if the cases filed against him were false, police said in their chargesheet, adding that this conversation occurred two days after a case was filed against his daughter Aniksha.
On the basis of a complaint filed by Amruta Fadnavis on February 20, the Malabar Hill police initiated a case and arrested Anil, Aniksha, and his cousin Nirmal on bribery and blackmail allegations.
The 733-page chargesheet, which includes WhatsApp conversations Amruta Fadnavis had with the father-daughter, was handed to the sessions court on May 18.
What did the chargesheet say
According to the chargesheet, Amruta Fadnavis informed Anil on February 22: "If you are wrongly framed, I can talk to Devenji (Fadnavis) and tell him to do justice, but I can’t succumb to the demands which Aniksha had made about earning illegal money. I know I have not done anything wrong, and you and Aniksha, with an intention to blackmail me, have operated from day one."
"At the most, these videos can defame me for some time, but once the truth is out, it will not have any effect. If you are really doing it to get justice, then tell me what you really want me to do," she sought to know from Anil, the document said, adding that Anil then sent several audio messages to her.
The chargesheet further said that the two exchanged multiple texts the next day, in which the complainant stated that even if she agreed to assist him, it would not be for the videos that Aniksha had blackmailed her with.
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"What is your assurance that you will not start demanding more after cases against you are withdrawn, like the way Aniksha has been insisting on earning illegal money through information on betting rackets?" Amruta Fadnavis asked Anil in the chat.
Anil alleged that Aniksha did everything she thought was right to help him get out of the cases, said the chargesheet.
He further said that Aniksha had recorded the calls and meetings in order to safeguard them and that she had no intention of harming the complaint.
Anil also stated that it was information regarding betting rackets that Aniksha wanted to pass on to her, according to the police.
In the same conversation, Amruta Fadnavis agreed to meet Aniksha to better understand his case and assured him that she would talk to her husband once he was free. Amruta, however, stated that her relationship with her husband had been strained since 2019 and that she believed he would divorce her after this case, according to the chargesheet.
The chargesheet further said that Amruta Fadnavis blocked Aniksha a day before filing the complaint, saying that Aniksha had secretly recorded all of their meetings and talks. Anil then began communicating with the complainant.
Anil accused Amruta Fadnavis of stealing dollars from her daughter at an office of one of the leading music and film production houses, and that Aniksha had given Rs 98 lakh in a bag to one of the staff (attached to the complainant).
Furthermore, Anil stated that last Shivratri, he was approached with a request to set up a trap for Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Anil Parab, as well as devise a plot to dethrone the MVA administration. Anil said in his February 2023 chat that he had all the recordings of these meetings, the chargesheet said.
Amruta Fadnavis' complaint
Amruta Fadnavis, in her complaint, claimed that the father and daughter blackmailed her and sought to collect Rs 10 crore from her. Aniksha, posing as a fashion designer, contacted her in November 2021 and later acquired her trust by claiming she had lost her mother and that her entire family was reliant on her, police officials said.
According to the FIR, Aniksha asked the complainant to wear her label to promote it, and the latter accepted. Aniksha even visited the deputy CM's residence and attended public events attended by Amruta Fadnavis, it added.
Aniksha then offered to pass information about cricket bookies to her, claiming that they could both profit from it. When the complainant stopped communicating with her, Aniksha offered her a bribe of Rs one crore in exchange for clearing her father of all allegations, the police said.
A few days later, Aniksha sent the complainant a few audio and video recordings purportedly showing the latter accepting favours from the former, and threatened to make those clips public if she did not pay her Rs 10 crore, the FIR said, adding that Amruta Fadnavis then blocked her.
