Aniksha sent to PCR till March 21
   Date :18-Mar-2023

Aniksha sent to PCR  
 
 
MUMBAI, 
THE ultimate aim of the conspiracy was to “fix” Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, police told a court here on Friday while seeking custody of designer Aniksha 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 IPC section 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extor­tion) against Aniksha Jaisinghani and her father Anil Jaisinghani, the police said. Aniksha 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, Aniksha demanded Rs 10 crore to delete everything she had and threatened to circulate those videos if Amruta did not pay, the prosecution claimed. The phone from which these messages were sent was yet to be recovered, it added. Aniksha was in constant touch with her father who is facing 17 criminal cases, the police said while seeking Aniksha’s custody for seven days.
Advocate Milan Hebale, appearing for Aniksha, contended that of 17 cases against Anil Jaisinghani, 13 have been “settled” (closed). The lawyer also questioned why, if the FIR was registered on February 20, the arrest was made only now. Aniksha was a law student and her exams were going on, he said, praying for a short police custody. The court after hearing both the sides remanded Aniksha in police custody till March 21.