‘Billionaire’ conman wanted to gift car to Bhumi Pednekar, talk about ‘huge projects’

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IndiaToday) – Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar was also approached by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who offered to gift her a car, sources told India Today. However, the actor told the Enforcement Director (ED) that she did not take any gift from the conman or his associates.

Bhumi Pednekar is the fifth Bollywood actor who has come under the lens of the ED in connection with the agency’s probe against Sukesh Chandrashekhar. Before her, the names of Jacqueline Fernandez, Nora Fatehi, Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan had cropped during the investigation.

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According to sources, Sukesh’s associate Pinky Irani had approached Bhumi Pednekar in January 2021, pretending to be the vice-president HR of a news organisation.

Pinky, sources said, told Bhumi Pednekar that “their group’s chairman Mr Suraj (Sukesh Chandrashekhar), is a fan of her and wanted to speak with her about a huge project and also wanted to gift her a car”.

Next day, Sukesh Chandrashekhar contacted Bhumi Pednekar and introduced himself as “Shekhaar” and told her that “my friend Ms Irani must have got in touch with you regarding few projects and a car that I want to gift you”.

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Later, in May 2021, Pinky Irani sent message to Bhumi Pednekar saying ‘Mr Suraj’ (Sukesh Chandrashekhar) is a billionaire and he wanted to gift her a car as he loves gifting his friends.

The same day, Sukesh again contacted Bhumi Pednekar and introduced himself as Suraj from NE Group.

Suspecting something wrong, Bhumi Pednekar refused to take any gift on behalf of Sukesh, who was impersonating as a rich billionaire.

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Bhumi Pednekar, according to sources, has informed ED officials that she has not received any gifts from Sukesh Chandrashekhar or Suraj or Shekhar or his associates, including Pinky Irani.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar, 32, is now in Delhi’s Tihar Jail for allegedly extorting Rs 215 crore from Aditi Singh, the wife of the owner of Ranbaxy. The conman allegedly posed as an officer — sometimes as Law Secretary, Home Secretary, representative of Home Minister Amit Shah, and representative of Prime Minister’s Office — and extorted Rs 215 crore from Aditi Singh on the pretext of helping her husband get out of jail.