Model who accused Bhushan of rape booked for extortion along with local politician

Mumbai: A day after a model registered a case against T-Series chairman and Bollywood producer Bhushan Kumar, accusing him of rape on the pretext of giving a job in the glamour industry, the production house approached Amboli Police and lodged a complaint for extortion charges against the model and a local political leader. While a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Mallikarjun Pujari, leader of Rashtriya Swabhiman Sanghatna, and the model who levelled the allegations against Kumar, no arrests have been made yet.

In a statement released on Saturday, T-Series said that the accused in this case, Pujari, had approached Bhushan Kumar in June this year and demanded extortion money, failing which he threatened the producer a woman would file a case of sexual harassment against him. Soon after, T-Series approached Amboli Police and filed a written complaint against Pujari on July 1.

A few days later, on July 5, Krishan Kumar of T-Series spoke to Pujari and met him in a hotel, wherein the political leader allegedly issued threats of a false sexual harassment case and showed a few WhatsApp messages, claiming to be sent by Bhushan Kumar and demanded an extortion. Not budging to the demands, Krishan Kumar declined, but recorded the conversation in which Pujari demanded an extortion.

Based on the complaint given by Krishan Kumar, a case of extortion, defamation, criminal intimidation was registered at Amboli police station, said senior inspector Someshwar Kamthe. The complainant approached police with an audio recording, which led to a case being registered. "We are investigating the matter and ascertaining the allegations. We have a few evidences in the case and further probe is underway," added Kamthe.

"Mallikarjun Pujari kept calling Krishan Kumar but the latter didn’t give in to his demands for extortion. After realizing that his nefarious designs are not yielding any results, Pujari then conspired with this woman and filed a complaint of rape charges against Bhushan Kumar at D.N.Nagar police station on July 15," the statement by T-Series read.

On July 15, the woman had accused Kumar of allegedly raping her on the pretext of promising her a career in the film industry. According to the complainant, Kumar had promised her a role in his upcoming project, but never made good on it. DN Nagar Police is investigating the matter. However, no arrests have been made yet.