Prakash Jha lodges extortion complaint

Mumbai, Oct 19 Bollywood director Prakash Jha Wednesday lodged a police complaint stating that two New York-based filmmakers were threatening to kill him if he did not pay them Rs.2-3 crore, police said.

Jha registered the first information report (FIR) with Amboli Police Station in Andheri, northwest Mumbai, against the two NRI filmmakers, Pramod Bhanti and Devendra Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police N.T. Sherkhane told IANS.

According to the FIR, Bhanti and Singh have been sending repeated emails threatening to kill him if he did not shell out Rs.2-3 crore in cash. The dispute is over a film that Jha was planning to make with them in 2004.

Jha was paid $50,000 (Rs.24.5 lakh) for the project, which he claimed he had returned after the movie was shelved.

The FIR has been registered under Section 384 (extortion) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Jha was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.