Mumbai actress Kadambari Jethwani ran extortion for years: AP CID chargesheet

A year after the arrest of Mumbai-based actor Kadambari Jethwani snowballed into a political and legal controversy that led to the suspension of three senior IPS officers in Andhra Pradesh, the state's Crime Investigation Department (CID) has filed a revised chargesheet accusing her of running a long-term extortion racket against businessman and YSR Congress Party leader Kukkala Vidyasagar. The agency says that she used intimate photographs, threats and coercion to extort money from him over more than a decade.

The filing is significant because the case, which dominated headlines for a few weeks in 2024, had largely centred on allegations that the police machinery had acted illegally during the previous YSRCP government in arresting Jethwani in Mumbai and shifting her to Vijayawada. The CID's latest chargesheet, filed on July 19, shifts the focus back to Vidyasagar's original complaint, contending that the actor had systematically blackmailed him over several years.

The revised chargesheet, filed before the IV Additional Judicial Magistrate Court in Vijayawada, arises from a complaint lodged by Vidyasagar, based on which an FIR was registered at Ibrahimpatnam police station in NTR district on February 2, 2024. The FIR includes sections relating to criminal conspiracy, extortion, cheating, forgery and criminal intimidation. Jethwani's parents, Narendra Kumar and Asha, and her brother Ambareesh were also named in the FIR.

According to the CID, Jethwani first met Vidyasagar at a private event in Mumbai after introducing herself as "Natasha". Investigators alleged that she told him she was a medical student facing financial difficulties and gradually developed a close relationship with him. The agency alleged that during one of their meetings, intimate photographs were taken without Vidyasagar's knowledge and later used to pressure him into making payments. "The accused allegedly used intimate photographs to blackmail the complainant," the CID states in its chargesheet.

Investigators further alleged that Jethwani threatened to make the photographs public and implicate Vidyasagar in a rape case if he failed to meet her demands. The chargesheet also claims that she warned him that her brother—allegedly engaged in the real estate business in Dubai and said to have underworld links—could harm him if he did not comply. "The accused allegedly threatened to upload the photographs and file a rape case against the complainant," the chargesheet says.

The CID said it relied on call detail records, bank transaction records and other electronic evidence to reconstruct the alleged money trail. "The investigation is supported by call detail records, bank transaction records and electronic evidence," the chargesheet notes. According to the investigation, Vidyasagar transferred money to Jethwani in multiple instalments over the years, with some payments allegedly credited to her personal bank account and others to a joint account held with her mother. The agency also said that 11 mobile phone numbers were used to intimidate the complainant.

The pressure intensified between September and November 2023, when Jethwani allegedly demanded Rs 1 crore, purportedly for an art gallery project, while continuing to threaten to release personal photographs. Investigators have submitted call records, bank documents and other electronic evidence before the court to support their case.

The case acquired wider political and legal significance after it expanded beyond the extortion allegations into a controversy over Jethwani's arrest. Following her complaint after the change of government in Andhra Pradesh, the state ordered a separate CID probe into the conduct of police officers who handled her arrest during the previous YSRCP government.

Acting on the preliminary findings of the CID inquiry, the government suspended three senior IPS officers—former Intelligence Chief P. Sitharama Anjaneyulu, former Vijayawada police commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata and former Vijayawada deputy commissioner of police Vishal Gunni—alleging procedural lapses in registering the case, arresting Jethwani in Mumbai and bringing her to Vijayawada.

The CID subsequently completed its investigation into the police officers' case and filed a chargesheet before the trial court. The court, however, returned the chargesheet after pointing out procedural deficiencies, requiring the agency to rectify the defects and submit a revised chargesheet. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted interim relief to the IPS officers who challenged the criminal proceedings. Consequently, while the alleged extortion case against Jethwani has moved forward with the filing of the revised chargesheet, the parallel case concerning the police officers remains pending.