Who Is Anil Jaisinghani, The Man Who Tried To Blackmail And Extort Rs 10 Crore From Devendra Fadnavis' Wife Amruta?

Anil Jaisinghani is a bookie who has been arrested by the Mumbai Police for allegedly blackmailing Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai Police recently named a man called Anil Jaisinghani, his daughter Aniksha and his cousin Nirmal as prime suspects in a case related to blackmail and extortion. The trio has been booked for allegedly trying to blackmail and making attempts to extort Rs 10 crore from Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Who Is Anil Jaisinghani?

Anil Jaisinghani is a bookie who is wanted in at least 17 cases of forgery and extortion. He was arrested by the Mumbai Police earlier in March. The suspected bookie was on the run for nearly 8 years before being finally arrested by the Mumbai Police. Anil Jaisinghani was arrested thrice in betting cases and is also wanted in five states.

BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had named Anil Jaisinghani in the state Legislative Assembly as the father of Aniksha, the ‘designer’ woman, against whom his wife later filed a police complaint alleging threat and conspiracy. He is a bookie from Ulhasnagar district of Maharashtra. 

What Is The Case Against Anil Jaisinghani?

Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta had filed an FIR with Malabar Hill Police on February 20 stating stated that Aniksha tried to bribe her in order to save her father from several cases registered against him. The chargesheet filed by the police in connection with the case contains excerpts of the chats between Aniksha and Amruta and the latter’s conversations with the bookie as well.

In one of those chats, Anil told Amruta that he had incurred a loss of Rs 1,000 crore in the past few years because he was on the run for eight years and 17 cases were registered against him during the period.

How Was Anil Jaisinghani Arrested?

According to media reports, Mumbai Police had asked Amrut and guided her to continue chats with Anil Jaisinghani so that his location can be traced. As suggested by the police, Amruta offered to help Anil in cases against him and also spoke about her strained relationship with Devendra Fadnavis. Their continued tutored chat helped the cops nab him finally.

‘Will Help You, If You Are Wrongly Framed’ 

In one of those chats, Amruta assured Anil that she would help him if he has been wrongly framed. “I can talk to Devendra Ji (Fadnavis) and tell him to do justice, but I can't succumb to Aniksha's demands, regarding earning illegal money. I know I have not done anything wrong, and you and Aniksha, with the intention of blackmailing me, have operated from day one."

During their previous chats, Anil Jaisinghani's daughter Aniksha had lured Amruta, saying they can earn a "huge sum of money" by giving information about bookies to cops and getting them arrested. 

Aniksha also allegedly made some videos to frame Amruta. According to the chargesheet, Anil Jaisinghani's daughter Aniksha threatened to leak those videos and audio clips and messaged Amruta, "Didiji, my father knows that you and Hon'ble Devendra sir will use the police against him and police will say that video is fake, but it will not help as my father is in regular contact with Sharad Pawarji and Uddhav Thackerayjis and he will give all video and audio recording to them and to Modiji."

According to the India Today report, Aniksha shot a video of a bag being filled with currency notes worth Rs 1 crore and sent the clip to Amruta Fadnavis from another mobile number after the latter blocked her number. 

During the phone call, Aniksha claimed that the video clip can be a big political issue and can be misused against Devendra Fadnavis to ruin his pollical career, forcing him to resign from the deputy chief minister's post, reported PTI.

The chargesheet also mentions that Aniksha also tried to extort money from Amruta in another message, saying, "Dear Didiji if you talk to me it will help both of us, you give Rs 10 crore one time and help my father in police case I promise you I will give you all original video and audio recording. I will not keep anything with me and my father will also delete all the recordings and nobody will come to know and all will be happy & Regards Aniksha."

Amruta responded by saying that though these videos can be used against them, the truth will eventually come out. On February 24, Amruta, on the advice of Mumbai Police, spoke to Anil again about her strained relationship with her husband, according to India Today.

During their conversation, Amruta told Anil that she will meet Aniksha at some location other than Sagar bungalow and assured him of full help. Mumbai Police registered a case against Anil, his daughter Aniksha, and cousin Nirmal on February 20 and arrested them a few days later.