Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Thursday filed an FIR at the Malabar Hill police station in Mumbai alleging threat and conspiracy against an acquaintance.
Amruta stated that Aniksha, a designer whom she had known for over 16 months, tried to bribe her with Rs 1 crore seeking her “intervention” in a criminal case and had also visited her residence.
According to the FIR, Aniksha allegedly offered to provide Amruta information on some bookies through which they could earn money and then directly offered Rs 1 crore to get her father off the hook in a police case, reports The Indian Express.
It also states that Aniksha sent her video clips, voice notes and many messages from an unknown phone number on February 18 and 19. Aniksha along with her father, was indirectly “threatening and conspiring” against her, Amruta stated in the FIR.
The FIR has named Aniksha and her father as the two accused.
Calls to the phone number provided by Amrutha in the FIR as belonging to Aniksha’s father didn’t get through, reports The Indian Express.
The police have registered a case against Aniksha and her father under Section 120 (B) (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 8 and 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. Section 8 relates to using corrupt and illegal means to “induce” a public servant and Section 12 is for abetment.
Investigations are underway and no arrests have been made so far.
In her statement to the police, Amruta said, “Aniksha claimed she was a designer of clothes, jewellery and footwear. She requested me to wear products designed by her at public events, and that this would help promote her clothes, jewellery and footwear. I felt sympathetic to Aniksha and said alright.”
According to Amruta’s statement in the FIR, Aniksha had first met her in November 2021 and claimed that having lost her mother, she took care of all family expenses. After their first meeting, Aniksha would either visit her home, the official Deputy CM residence at Sagar Bungalow in Malabar Hills or show up at public events attended by her.
“Once, she came and handed some designer clothes and jewellery to one of our staffers and requested me to wear it at some public event. I don’t remember whether I wore that dress at any event or not. The material was returned to her through my staffers or donated as I do not have possession of any of her designed clothes,” Amruta said in her statement to police.
According to the FIR, Aniksha once presented Amruta Fadnavis a necklace at Sagar Bungalow sometime in November-December 2022. Although she did not wear it at any event, she told Aniksha she wore it at a couple of events since she didn’t want to hurt her (Aniksha), and returned it to Aniksha within three weeks, the FIR stated.
“In one meeting, Aniksha said her father had close relations with leaders of various political parties and later handed over a lakhota (paper envelope) to (one of the staffers) instructing her to give it to me. When I opened it, I found a handwritten note, but since I did not understand the content, I kept the paper aside,” the FIR read.
At another event on January 27, 2023, in Pune, where she was Chief Guest, Amruta Fadnavis said she met Aniksha. “I was surprised to see her as she stays in Mumbai and when I asked her about it, she told me that one of my employees had given her the pass,” Fadnavis’s statement to the police read.
While returning to Mumbai, when her bodyguard stopped their vehicle, Amruta said she saw Aniksha standing there. Aniksha, Amruta claimed, lied to him and said, ‘Madam has said she will meet me’.”
“Despite knowing she was lying, I allowed her to sit in my vehicle because I did not want to create panic,” read the statement.
Aniksha allegedly told Amruta her father had been giving information about bookies to the police. “She (Aniksha) offered they can earn money by either instructing the police to take legal action against the bookies or they could also get money from them by not taking any action against them,” Amruta alleged in her statement to police.
On hearing the proposal, Amruta said that she instructed the vehicle be stopped, and asked Aniksha to get down. Aniksha got into another vehicle that was trailing them. She also ignored subsequent calls made by Aniksha to her.
The statement reads that on February 16 at 9.30 pm, Aniksha contacted Amruta and after some preliminary discussion allegedly told the latter that her (Aniksha’s) father had been named an accused in a case and offered Rs 1 crore to save him. “As soon as I heard that, I disconnected the phone call and blocked her number,” said Amruta in her statement to the police.
Amruta received 22 videoclips, three voice notes and many messages from an unknown number on her WhatsApp between 11.55 pm on February 18 and midnight 00.15 am (February 19).
Her staffer also received similar video clips, voice notes and messages from the same mobile number. “Then at 10 pm on February 19, about 40 messages, videos, voice notes and screen shots were sent from the same number. I learnt that the mobile number belongs to Aniksha’s father,” said Amruta in the FIR