Who is Sukesh Chandrashekhar? All about this millionaire conman who dated top actresses, enjoyed political connections

NEW DELHI: Jailed millionaire conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who has triggered a political storm by making very serious allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party leaders, has grabbed a lot of media attention in recent times. Until his arrest nearly a year ago, the conman lived a king-size life, had a fleet of ultra-modern cars, dated several top actresses and enjoyed big political connections. 

Known as 'Bajali' among those close to him, the conman has duped hundreds of wealthy people, impersonated influential persons, and dated several top actresses of our times to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a super-rich man. Interesting details about this conman’s rags-to-riches story and his colossal collapse keep pouring in ever since he was accused by a woman of allegedly extorting Rs 200 crores from her in lieu of bailing out her husband.

Currently lodged in a high-security Delhi Jail, the conman faces several cases of corruption and cheating under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Money Laundering Act, has been charged with running an extortion racket, duping people on the pretext of giving them a job and facilitating their businesses.

He was born in a middle-class family in Bengaluru. His father Vijayan Chandrashekhar was a contractor, a part-time mechanic and an automobile spare parts salesman. He began duping people at the young age of 17. According to police records, he soon learned the tricks of the trade and shifted his base from Bengaluru to Chennai where he made big political connections.

Though Sukesh Chandrashekhar only studied till Class 12, he is known to have a good grasp of technology. He was first arrested by the Bengaluru Police in August 2007. At the time of his arrest back then, he claimed to be friends with the son of JD(S) leader and then Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. The Bengaluru police then recovered several top-end cars - a BMW, a Toyota Corolla, a Nissan, a Honda Accord, a Honda City - and six cellphones, 12 high-end watches, a 50-inch LCD television set, gold ornaments, and designer clothes from his possession.

Fluent in all the south Indian languages, the conman can confidently speak Hindi and English. According to former Bengaluru DCP Devaraj, Chandrashekhar had a unique modus operandi - he rarely met his targets in person. He would mostly contact them over the telephone. 

By 2009, Chandrashekhar was arrested multiple times and released on bail. In 2011, police arrested Chandrashekhar in a case where he posed as a secretary to BJP leader BS Yediyurappa. His partner in crime and wife, Leena Maria Paul, had helped the police in tracking him down. Following his arrest, he broke up with his wife temporarily but later reunited with her and shifted his base to Kochi.

The couple fled Kochi in 2012 after a textile group filed a cheating case against him. In its police complaint, the textile group alleged that Chandrashekhar promised to bring actress Katrina Kaif for a promotional event for the company and took Rs 20 lakh from them.

Chandrashekhar was again arrested by Delhi Police in 2017 in connection with an alleged Rs 50-crore bribery deal when he attempted to give money to the election commission to get the AIADMK two leaves symbol for a faction of AIDMK, led by VK Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran, before the RK Nagar by-polls in Chennai.

The Income Tax authorities seized luxury cars such as Lamborghini, Porsche Cayenne, Jaguar, Range Rover, Bentley, BMW, Rolls Royce, Toyota Land Cruiser and a Ducati motorcycle, from his possession following investigations.

He grabbed headlines in 2021, when Aditi Singh, the wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh, accused him of extorting Rs 200 crore on the pretext of helping with her husband’s cases if she contributed to the 'party fund'. He posed as the ‘law secretary’ to cut the deal, Aditi Singh claimed in her police complaint. The Special Cell of Delhi Police later registered a case of extortion and impersonation and the matter was transferred to the Economic Offence Wing (EOW). 

Chandrashekhar was arrested from inside Rohini jail, where he was already lodged. In jail, Chandrashekhar allegedly paid Rs 1.5 crore every month to get a separate barrack and be allowed to use mobile phones freely. The police lodged an FIR against Chandrashekhar and 82 jail staff. It is alleged that he operated his network freely with the help of the jail officials and using his political connections. 

He has been in jail since 2017 after being arrested for allegedly taking money from AIADMK rebel TTV Dinakaran to bribe an Election Commission official. Chandrashekhar, who is being probed by the Delhi Police and the Enforcement Directorate, has at least 30 FIRs against him. He is again in the news for splurging his allegedly ill-gotten wealth on Bollywood actors and celebrities, including Jacqueline Fernandes and Nora Fatehi, who are being questioned by the police for being linked to him.

Through a series of letters addressed to Delhi LG, Chandrasekhar recently made several explosives allegations against Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP party and said that he had paid Rs 50 crore to it. He also claimed that jailed Delhi minister Satyendra Jain had demanded Rs 10 crore as “protection money” from him and was promised a big party position in south India.