Surat, May 30: A local court today rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Surendra Shetty, father of actress Shilpa Shetty, facing arrest in an extortion case registered against him and two others by Gujarat Police. The bail was rejected on merits by additional district and sessions judge K M Vin after prosecution opposed tooth and nail his plea for liberty on the ground that there was prima facie evidence of his involvement in the alleged crime.
Acting on a police complaint, the court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against Surendra Shetty and his wife Sunanda. Surendra and his wife had obtained provisional bail till May 28 and June 12 respectively from a court in Mumbai which ordered them to seek regular bail in a Surat court.
According to police, Shilpa`s parents had hired a gangster to recover from an industrialist Rs 80 lakh dues of their daughter who had modelled for Prafulla sarees some years back.
Police claim to have recorded telephonic talks between a gangster and victim Pankaj Agarwal as well as between Shilpa`s parents and Agarwal which reveal that extortion threat was indeed issued.
Surendra`s counsel V B Raju denied his client was involved in hiring the underworld to recover the money due to Shilpa. He refuted alleged telephonic talk between Shilpa`s parents and the victim saying it was “manipulated”.
Prosecutor Jatin Gandhi opposed the bail plea saying there was prima facie evidence of involvement of Shilpa`s parents in the alleged crime. Bureau Report