Bookie Anil Jaisinghani arrested for 'blackmailing' Devendra Fadnavis' wife Amruta

Anil Jaisinghani, a notorious cricket bookie, was arrested from Gujarat, days after his daughter Aniksha was arrested for allegedly trying to blackmail and bribe Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He was on the run.

Official informed that Anil was hiding in Gujarat and he was arrested from there and the crime branch team brought him to Mumbai.

A crime branch official confirmed that Anil Jaisinghani, who has 14 to 15 cases pending against him, was nabbed from Gujarat but refused to divulge details.

Mumbai Police had on March 16 arrested Aniksha Anil Jaisinghani, a designer, after Devendra Fadnavis's wife Amruta accused her of offering a bribe for intervening in a criminal case and also threatening her.

The case was registered on February 20 by Amruta Fadnavis at Malabar Hill police station. Aniksha was in touch with Amruta for the past 16 months and also visited her residence. In her statement to the police, Amruta said she first met Aniksha in November 2021.

Aniksha claimed that she was a designer of clothes, jewellery and footwear and requested the deputy CM's wife to wear them at public events saying it would help her promote the products, said the official from Malabar Hill police station.

Aniksha allegedly told Amruta that her mother was no more and she was taking care of her family's finances, the official said.

After gaining Amruta's trust, Aniksha offered to provide her with information on some bookies through which, she claimed, they could make money, the official said. She then directly offered Amruta Rs 1 crore to get her father off the hook in a police case, said the official.

Amruta told the police that she was upset by Aniksha's behaviour and blocked her number, the official said.

The woman then allegedly sent Amruta video clips, voice notes and many messages from an unknown number. She and her father indirectly threatened and conspired against Amruta, said the official citing the FIR.

Her father Anil Jainsinghani has multiple cases of betting, threatening, cheating and misleading government officials registered against him in Maharashtra, Goa and Assam and Aniksha is also named in one of the cases in Goa.

On Friday, the Mumbai Police added an extortion section against Anishka. "Extortion section 385 of the Indian Penal Code has been added against the accused, who threatened to make two videos viral and demanded a bribe from Amruta Fadnavis," said an officer of Mumbai Police.