The ultimate aim of the conspiracy was to fix Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, police told a court here while seeking custody of designer Anishka Jaisinghani, accused of offering bribe to Fadnavis’s wife Amruta. Jaisinghani was produced before Additional Sessions Judge D D Almale who remanded her in police custody till March 21.
The accused tried to extort Rs 10 crore from Amruta by threatening to circulate morphed videos, and hence they invoked Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) against Anishka Jaisinghani and her father Anil Jaisinghani, the police said.
Anishka was arrested on Thursday while her father, also an accused in the case, is still at large. The Malabar Hill police station had registered a First Information Report (FIR) in the case on February 20 on Amruta Fadnavis’s complaint.
The FIR was registered under IPC section 120-B (conspiracy) and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act pertaining to using illegal means to induce a public servant to show favour or disfavour to any person.
Chief Public Prosecutor Jaysing Desai told the court that photos, videos and other material evidence shows there was a conspiracy to fix the informant (complainant Amruta Fadnavis) and ultimately the public servant (Devendra Fadnavis).
The accused wanted to “use of the office of public servant, he added. Morphed photos and three or four videos were created to blackmail, the prosecution said. After Amruta blocked her number, Anishka demanded Rs 10 crore to delete everything she had and threatened to circulate those videos if Amruta did not pay, the prosecution claimed.
Anishka was in constant touch with her father who is facing 17 criminal cases, the police said while seeking Anishka’s custody for seven days. As per Amruta Fadnavis’s statement to the police, she first met Anishka in November 2021. Anishka told her that she designed clothes, jewellery and footwear and requested the BJP leader’s wife to wear them at public events to help her promote the products, she said.