The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing arrested actor Leena Maria Paul on Sunday for allegedly helping her boyfriend Sukesh Chandrasekhar, an accused in 21 cases, in extorting ₹200 crore from a businessman’s wife.
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The police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOCA) Act against the accused, a senior police officer said, adding that further investigation into the matter is under way. He said Ms. Paul allegedly helped Chandrasekhar in duping former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh.
An FIR was registered on August 7 after Ms. Singh informed the police that a man posing as a senior official of the Law Ministry in June last year had offered to help secure bail for her husband, who was in jail at that time, in return for money.
Shivinder Singh was arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) in 2019.
According to the police, Chandrasekhar, an accused in 21 cases, including the Election Commission bribery case, had made the call to Ms. Singh and he was arrested in August.
At the time of the incident, Chandrasekhar was lodged in Delhi's Rohini jail and was running an extortion racket from behind the bars. The police later arrested his two associates, who ran operations for him from outside the prison, and two senior officials of the Rohini jail for aiding Chandrasekhar.
During the course of investigation, the police had found that a manager of a bank in Connaught Place and his two associates were involved in the dubious transactions for circulation of funds and arrangement of cash and the three were subsequently arrested, a senior official said.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing) R.K. Singh said Chandrasekhar’s associates revealed that they were helped by Rohini jail officials.
“An assistant jail superintendent and the deputy superintendent of Rohini Jail were found involved in the racket and they have admitted to have helped the accused. The two jail officials were also arrested,” the police had said.
