Delhi Police arrests actress Leena Maria Paul in extortion case

NEW DELHI: Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on Sunday said that it has arrested actor Leena Maria Paul, the partner of Sukesh Chandrashekhar who was arrested for allegedly duping Aditi Singh, wife of the former promoter of Ranbaxy, Shivinder Singh, of Rs 200 crore.

Earlier on Saturday, the Patiala House Court sent Sukesh Chandrashekhar to 16-day police remand and two other co-accused to 5-day remand in the case of alleged Rs 200 crore cheating case.

Delhi Police's EOW recently registered an FIR against Chandrasekhar for allegedly duping the spouses of former promoters of Ranbaxy, Shivinder Singh, and Malvinder Singh, of Rs 200 crore besides ongoing investigations against him in several cases across the country.

Chandrashekhar was represented by Advocate Manish Pathak while the two co-accused were represented by Advocate Anant Malik.
Delhi Police Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastav informed the court that the police have invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Chandrashekhar.

During arguments, Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh showed displeasure with Delhi Police for invoking the MCOCA and said, "Police cannot invoke stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) without proof of the accused working as members of an organised crime syndicate."

According to the Prosecution, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has extended its investigation into the case related to extortion of over Rs 200 crore, by Rohini jail inmate Sukesh Chandrasekar for allegedly duping wives of former Religare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who are currently in Tihar jail. At least two separate FIRs have been registered in the case so far and 23 Deputy Superintendents have been transferred on August 17, police said.

Investigation revealed that the accused Sukesh Chandrasekar had duped Shivinder's wife Aditi Singh and Malvinder's wife Japna Singh worth over several crores of rupees.

The women claimed that they have paid crores of rupees to the conman to secure bail for their husbands and ensure their safety, posing as an officer from the Union Law Ministry.

"I was assured that the central government would be interested to work with my husband after making him an 'industry advisor' on Covid-related committees; he asked me to contribute to the 'party fund' and assured to set up a meeting either with the former law minister or home minister," Aditi Singh alleged in her FIR.

While according to Japna Singh, she paid a total of Rs 3.5 crore to Hong Kong-based account on July 28, 29, 30, and August 6, and has shared proof of the transactions. Afterwards, the police laid a trap and arrested two of his accomplices, Pradeep and Deepak, between August 7 and 8.

A senior official of Delhi Police had earlier said that the matter is quite sensitive and arrested Sukesh from Rohini jail; his two associates Pradeep Ramdani and Deepak Ramnani; two jail officials, deputy superintendent Subhash Batra and assistant jail superintendent Dharam Singh Meena; and three men, Komal Poddar, who is a manager at RBL in Connaught Place, and his two associates Avinash Kumar and Jitender Narula.