Surat, June 26: A local court today rejected the bail plea of Surendra Shetty, father of actress Shilpa Shetty and accused in a case of alleged extortion and remanded him to judicial custody till July five. Chief Judicial Magistrate R P Mehta observed that Surendra's bail was being rejected as the alleged offence was "serious and grave".
His lawyer Kalpesh Desai told reporters that Surendra would file a fresh bail plea tomorrow.


Surendra's bail has been rejected thrice. Earlier, a Surat court had turned down his bail petition. Later he moved Gujarat High Court which also rejected his plea for liberty.


He is facing the charge of hiring gangsters to recover Rs 80 lakhs payable to his daughter Shilpa by a Saree manufacturer in Surat for modelling in an ad film.


In a related development, the court would hear the bail plea of his wife and co-accused Sunanda on June 30. The matter came up for hearing on June 24 but was deferred for a week as Sunanda was not well.


Surendra urged for bail afresh after his petition was rejected twice.


Surendra was arrested on June 21. During interrogations, police collected his voice sample to match with the ones recorded in a conversation with Pankaj Agarwal, owner of Prafull Sarees.
Surendra and Sunanda are facing the charge of hiring gangsters to extort money from Agarwal. The extortion threat was indicated in telephonic talks, police alleged. Bureau Report