JAIPUR: A former beauty pageant winner arrested in a blackmailing case had allegedly extorted over Rs 1 crore from a businessman for car, flat and interior decor.
Priyanka Choudhary (31) was crowned as ‘Mrs.
Rajasthan’ at an event held in a city hotel in 2019.
A native of Tonk district, she lived with her husband, a police constable, and two kids in a flat near Nirman Nagar.
She was arrested on Friday evening.
Shyam Nagar SHO Santra Meena said the businessman alleged that Priyanka extorted over 1 crore from him.
“We are verifying to see if the amount reported by the businessman was indeed transferred into her account,” she told TOI.
The complainant, a 50-year-old businessman who lives at Parshwanath Colony and runs a sprawling iron business, alleged in his FIR registered on June 3 that Priyanka was a family friend and they knew each other as both were natives of Tonk district.
Her wife reportedly treated Priyanka as her sister.
After meeting Priyanka and her husband in 2016, she moved to his Gautam Nagar located flat as a tenant for which a rent agreement was agreed upon.
As the two families bonded, Priyanka cajoled the businessman to help her buy a flat in Nirman Nagar worth Rs 64lakh.
The complainant claimed he was also compelled to spend Rs 14.59 lakh in furnishing the newly purchased flat with AC, furniture, etc.
As time wore on, the cordial friendship soured in 2018, when Priyanka allegedly threatened to book him in a rape case if her demands were not met.
The businessman alleged he was forced to deposit Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2,5 lakh into her bank account in December 2018.
Another payment of Rs 8.45 lakh was made in March 2019, reportedly for a car, Rs 30 lakh for jewelry, along with other hefty payments for her different expenditures which included investment schemes, EMI, and school fees for her two kids.
In April this year, Priyanka allegedly made a call to the businessman and asked him to help her buy a plot in Jaipur, worth several lakhs.
An argument soon ensued.
The businessman declined to stump up the cash and filed a complaint against her while seeking from senior police officials.
After days of the investigation, Priyanka was arrested on Friday evening under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, the probe is also underway to examine the role of her husband.
“The case is under investigation.
Priyanka had also filed a case against the businessman on May 20 and alleged that he had tried to beat her up.
We are examining it,” an official told TOI.