The Mumbai Police has filed a case against the woman and her father (File)
Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has filed a complaint in Mumbai against a designer in a bizarre case involving allegations of threats and conspiracy.
A woman named "Aniksha" and her father have been named by Amruta Fadnavis in a First Information Report (FIR) filed on February 20.
Amruta Fadnavis, a banker, alleges that the woman, claiming to be a designer, tried to bribe her, offering her Rs 1 crore to intervene in a criminal case involving her father. She allegedly also offered to give information on bookies "to help her earn money".
The woman allegedly contacted Ms Fadnavis first in November 2021.
According to the FIR, Ms Fadnavis said the woman sent her video clips, voice notes and messages from an unknown number on February 18 and 19.
The Mumbai Police has filed a case against the woman and her father for conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Ms Fadnavis told the police that the woman claimed to be a "designer of clothes, jewellery and footwear", according to a report in The Indian Express.
"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… and said alright," Ms Fadnavis said.
In their first meeting, the woman had claimed to have lost her mother, the FIR says.
It also alleges the woman often handed designer clothes and jewellery to Ms Fadnavis' staff and urged her to wear them. "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," Ms Fadnavis told the police, according to the Express report.
"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 says.
Ms Fadnavis alleged that the woman once lied to her bodyguard and sat in her car. She allegedly told her that 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," the FIR says.
Ms Fadnavis said she stopped the car and asked the woman to exit. She also said she ignored calls from her.
The FIR says on February 16 at 9.30 pm, Aniksha contacted Ms Fadnavis and told her about her father being accused in a case and offered Rs 1 crore if she saved him. "As soon as I heard that, I disconnected the phone call and blocked her number," said Ms Fadnavis in her statement to the police, according to The Indian Express.