Local politician Mallikarjun Pujari was on Saturday granted pre-arrest bail by a Dindoshi sessions court in an attempted extortion case of T-Series Chairman Bhushan Kumar.
The complainant, who is related to Kumar, has alleged that Pujari had tried to extort money from Kumar in connivance with a woman model threatening that she would file a rape complaint against the T-Series chairman if he did not pay up. A case was registered at Amboli police station for the offences of extortion, criminal intimidation and defamation under the IPC.
The FIR came after Bhushan Kumar was booked for rape after the woman had complained at DN Nagar police station that he sexually exploited her between 2017 and 2020 with the false promise of work in films.
Arguing for anticipatory bail for Pujari, his advocate Aniket Nikam had told the court that the present complaint was lodged against Pujari after a rape FIR was filed against Kumar and called it a ‘counter-blast’. He further said that since Pujari had helped the rape victim the complaint was lodged against him.
Additional Sessions Judge DD Khoche directed Pujari to attend the police station regularly and not to tamper with witnesses including the informant or try to contact them, else the relief would be cancelled. He was ordered to execute a bond of Rs. 25,000 in the event of arrest, among other conditions.
