Actor Jacqueline Fernandez quizzed for over 8 hours in Sukesh Chandrashekhar case

PTI, Sep 15, 2022, 8:11 AM IST

Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez was on Wednesday questioned by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing for over eight hours in connection with an extortion case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, officials said.

During the interrogation, the ‘Housefull 3’ actor has admitted to have been in a relationship with Chandrashekhar for six months but claimed that she did not know about his activities, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Actor Nora Fatehi and Pinky Irani, who allegedly introduced Fernandez to Chandrashekhar, have been summoned for questioning on Thursday, they said.

Fernandez, a Sri Lankan, joined the probe after being issued a third summons. Irani had accompanied her on Wednesday.

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said the actor was grilled about her alleged role in the multi-crore money laundering case linked to Chandrashekhar and about the gifts she took from him among other issues.

Fernandez and Irani were confronted together. The actor cooperated during the questioning and later had lunch, Yadav said.

”A questionnaire containing about 50 questions was prepared as part of the interrogation. She was asked these questions, and based on the answers, follow-up questions were asked.

”She cooperated during the questioning and could not deny her links with Chandrashekhar when confronted with evidences, which are out in public domain since she has been already questioned by Enforcement Directorate,” another police officer said.

”When asked, the actor told us that she was in a relationship with Chandrashekhar for six months. She claimed that neither was she aware of his activities nor did she know he was running an extortion racket. According to her, when the news about his arrest broke out, she cut all her ties with him and also deleted pictures from her phone,” he said.

The police questioned Irani, first separately, and then was confronted together with the actor.

Fernandez had been asked to join the probe on Monday but cited prior commitments and sought another date. She will be called again for questioning but the date has not been fixed yet, the senior police officer said.

Though the agency has already questioned Nora Fatehi for six to seven hours in the case and has recorded her statement, she will be further interrogated on Thursday as there are ”certain unanswered questions”, he said.

The officer, however, denied any direct link between the two actors.

Chandrashekhar, who is currently in jail, is accused of cheating various people, including high-profile individuals such as former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh.

Fatehi was earlier questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case.

On August 17, the ED filed a chargesheet naming Fernandez as an accused in a multi-crore money laundering case linked to Chandrashekhar. According to the ED, Fatehi and Fernandez received luxury cars and other expensive gifts from him.