Mumbai Police arrests bookie Anil Jaisinghani from Gujarat for allegedly 'blackmailing' Amruta Fadnavis

Mumbai Police arrests bookie Anil Jaisinghani from Gujarat for allegedly 'blackmailing' Amruta Fadnavis

Amruta Fadnavis claimed in her FIR that Anil Jaisinghani and his daughter Anishka were threatening and blackmailing her.

Vishal SinghUpdated: Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 08:21 AM IST
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FPJ EXCLUSIVE: Bookie Anil Jaisinghani was in Ulhasnagar day before daughter Aniksha's arrest | File Photo

Mumbai: After a dramatic 72-hour chase, Mumbai Police finally got their man on Monday, with assistance from their local counterparts on the way. Their pursuit of wanted bookie Anil Jaisinghani wound its way through several cities in Gujarat – from Bardoli to Surat to Vadodara to Kalol – but in the end, police nabbed the man, who, they claimed, had been absconding for the past five years. Jaisinghani is wanted in as many as 17 criminal cases.

Mumbai Police had turned the heat on him after Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who also handles the home portfolio, registered an FIR against Jaisinghani’s daughter Aniksha on February 20, for alleged blackmail, intimidation and the offer of a Rs one crore bribe. Later, she was slapped with an extortion charge of Rs 10 cr. Aniksha was arrested on March 16 and remanded in police custody.

Escape artist, bookie in net after years of chase

His daughter’s arrest is apparently believed to have shaken up her father, a resident of Ulhasnagar, so much that he called a TV channel and claimed that his daughter was ‘innocent’. However, police believe that he is the mastermind who was targeting Amruta, just as he had done in the case of ex-Deputy Police Commissioner Amar Jadhav a few years ago.

The crime branch nabbed Jaisinghani after a 72-hour chase and with the constant tracking of his mobile phone under ‘Operation AJ’, involving three teams, including personnel from the Mumbai Police cyber cell, Crime Intelligence Unit and Crime Branch Unit 10. The FPJ had reported how Jaisinghani had very much been in Ulhasnagar last Wednesday, the day before his daughter’s arrest.

Police traced his location and nabbed him

Jaisinghani, who was once given police protection despite criminal cases pending against him, is known to have deep contacts in the police force. Through technical tracking, the police first found his location to be Bardoli in Gujarat, famous for farmers’ satyagraha led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.  As soon as a unit of the search party left for Bardoli, it was found that he had slunk out from there. The Gujarat police’s help was sought and the local cops accordingly set up an elaborate nakabandi. But a shrewd Jaisinghani hoodwinked the cops once again, by not travelling in his car, but in an autorickshaw.

It was then found that he was headed towards the diamond city, Surat, known for its diamond industry and betting on cricket. But by the time police reached Surat, it was found that he had given them the slip once again. Senior police officers were monitoring the chase on a minute-by-minute basis, giving directions to the search parties.

Mumbai police sought help from Gujarat cops

At the behest of their Mumbai counterparts, Surat Police tried to nab Jaisinghani by setting up a nakabandi, but he foiled the move with practised ease.  He made matters more difficult for the cops by not using his mobile and instead, making internet calls using a dongle which he turned on after a gap of six to seven hours, with his location changing constantly. When he did switch on his mobile internet, his location was found to be Vadodara. The Mumbai police then took the help of Vadodara cops. But the master gambler did the vanishing act from Vadodara too. His next location was Godhra. The men in uniform went rushing to Godhra, only to find that he had set off for Kalol in Gandhinagar district. It was there that he was finally netted by a nakabandi, with help from the local police.

The bookie was flitting about in a chauffeur-driven private limousine and accompanied by one of his relatives. All three were taken into custody and brought to Mumbai. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) Balsingh Rajput said the trio was handed over to Malabar Hill Police for interrogation.

A police officer told the FPJ that on March 13, Jaisinghani was in Shirdi, and had reached Mira Road in Thane district via Nashik. He was in Thane district until March 16, after which he went to neighbouring Gujarat.

A police officer said whenever Jaisinghani spotted a nakabandi, he would get out of his car and take an autorickshaw to elude the cops. It is a mystery why the cops did not stop his car at the nakabandi point.

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