Who is Anil Jaisinghani? The IPL bookie whose daughter offered bribe to Amruta Fadnavis

News

• Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was offered a Rs 1 crore bribe.
• Amruta Fadnavis was offered bribe by Anil Jaisinghani's daughter Aniksha.
• Anil Jaisinghani, who is absconding since 2015, had also tried to blackmail Amruta with perpetrated videos if she refused the offer.

Mumbai: An absconding IPLcricket bookie, Anil Jaisinghani, is at the centre of a blackmail controversy involving MaharashtraDeputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was offered a Rs 1 crore bribe by Jaisinghani’s daughter. Aniksha Jaisinghani wanted the government to withdraw criminal cases against her father, one of the most infamous cricket bookies in the country.  

Anil Jaisinghani, who is absconding since 2015, had also tried to blackmail Amruta with perpetrated videos if she refused the offer. His daughter Aniksha had developed close contact with Amruta.

Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state’s Home Minister, said: “My wife has filed an FIR saying she was pressurised to get a work done through me. First money was offered. Then she was blackmailed.”

Jaisinghani’s house in Ulhasnagar, a city on the mainland around 50 km away from Mumbai, was raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier in 2015 in connection with a betting syndicate related with the Indian Premier League (IPL). His alleged links with bookies across India had brought him on the police radar. Jaisinghani has been accused of getting the authorities to raid other bookies. He has been untraceable since 2015.

On Thursday, Fadnavis spoke about the bookie in the Maharashtra Assembly: “There is a person called Anil Jaisinghani who has been absconding since 7-8 years. There are 14-15 cases registered against him. He has a daughter who met Amruta, somewhere in 2015-16. Then she stopped meeting her. She suddenly started meeting my wife in 2021. She told her that she is a designer and makes artificial jewellery. She got a book written on her late mother released at the hands of Amruta. She gained Amruta’s confidence. After some days she started meeting Amruta. She requested Amruta to use her designer clothes.”

One day, she told Amruta that her father has been implicated in some wrong cases and you should help in getting him released. Amruta asked here to give a memorandum to the government. That time the government was not changed. After the government was changed she repeated the request. Amruta asked her to give a memorandum to the deputy CM,” said Fadnavis.

“The girl told Amruta that they (she and her father) got some bookies caught and get their premises raided. We get money from both sides. Amruta asked her to keep away from her. She again contacted Amruta. She said they can make money through this way. She offered Rs 1 crore to get her father released. My wife said if he is innocent the law will release them. Amruta blocked her number after that,” he added. 

Fadnavis further said, “After some days, my wife got video clips on her mobile from an unknown number.” 

“We have conducted forensic auditing of these clips. It is established that he had manipulated several things. The girl is seen giving a bag to Amruta in one clip. This clip was made at two different locations. There was money in one bag. When the girl gave a similar bag to my wife it was empty. They tried to create an impression that she was giving a bag full of money to my wife. We did not make the FIR public because the police had an opinion that it was a good opportunity to nab the culprit. He should not get alert on the police action. The perpetrator wanted cases against him nullified. He said he would speak against our opponents if the cases are withdrawn. That shows he was politically motivated,” he added.

Who is Aniksha?

Aniksha is the eldest daughter of absconding cricket bookie Anil Jaisinghani. She is a law graduate. There has been an FIR against her in Goa too in a cheating case.