Amruta Fadnavis accuses designer 'Aniksha' of offering her Rs 1 crore as bribe, lodges FIR

Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, has accused a fashion designer of attempting to bribe her with Rs 1 crore in lieu of her "intervention" in a criminal case against her father. In a police complaint she alleged that the woman -- whom she identified as Aniksha -- had been in touch with her for over 16 months and visited her house on some occassions. The woman later allegedly sent video clips, voice notes and text messages to the deputy CM's wife and had been "threatening and conspiring" against her, the complaint reads.

The FIR was registered on February 20.

Amruta Fadnavis has also accused the woman's father of threatening and conspiring against her. The police have registered a case against the duo under sections that deal with conspiracy and corruption. The police are investigating the matter but have made no arrests so far.

Fadnavis told the police in a statement that Aniksha was a clothes, jewellery and footwear designer, reported The Indian Express, adding the woman had approached her at public events seeking promotion of her products. Fadnavis agreed as she felt sympathetic to Anishka.

Per the complaint, they met in November 2021. She allegedly told Amruta Fadnavis that her mother had passed away and she was taking care of her family's finances. She met Amruta Fadnavis several times at public events and at her residence.

She once gave her products to Amruta Fadnavis to wear. The material was either returned to her or was donated by Fadnavis' staff. She once gave a necklace for her to wear at an event; Fadnavis, however, chose not to wear it and returned it to her after three weeks, the FIR reads.

Aniksha, per the FIR, told Fadnavis that her father had connections with some bookies. She allegedly told Fadnavis that they could earn money by instructing the police to take legal actions against them or by instructing them not to take action against them. 

“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 Fadnavis alleged in her statement to police, per The Indian Express.

Upset with the proposal, she asked Aniksha to get out of her car. 

Aniksha allegedly offered Rs 1 crore to Fadnavis to save her father from a criminal case. Hearing the offer, Fadnavis blocked her phone number after which she received a flurry of text messages and audio-video clips from an unknown number.