A Mumbai-based man has been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police on charges of trying to extort money from Anoushka Shankar, daughter of legendary sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar, by threatening to make her personal photographs public.
It is learnt that the sitar maestro lodged a complaint with the Union Home Ministry in August alleging that a man had been demanding money from his daughter in exchange for some of her photographs. The reported demand for one lakh dollars was made through an e-mail.
About a fortnight ago, the Special Cell was directed to investigate the case. The police zeroed in on a resident of Mumbai and arrested him a few days ago. He was produced in a Tis Hazari court that remanded him to police custody for questioning, following which he was sent to judicial custody.
The accused had gained access to Anoushka’s photographs stored in her laptop and sent about half-a-dozen threats to her through e-mails.