Bhubaneswar: Archana Nag, the prime accused in the high-profile blackmailing case in Odisha, was produced before the District and Session Court here Wednesday.
The 26-year-old woman from Kalahandi district was arrested October 6 and sent to jail on the charge of blackmailing rich and influential persons along with running a sex racket.
A police team brought Archana Nag from the Jharpada jail here under tight security and produced her in the court .
Earlier, the court had turned down her bail petition in the case pertaining to an FIR filed at Nayapally police station by film producer, Akshya Parija.
The woman had allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore from the Odia film producer by threatening to release his intimate pictures and videos.
She is seeking bail in the case, her lawyer Debashis Mohapatra said.
Archana Nag’s husband Jagabandhu Chand, a co-accused in the case, was also arrested while the couple’s associate Khageswar Patra was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the central agency started investigating the money laundering angle of the case.
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The couple allegedly amassed over Rs 30 crore by blackmailing politicians, businessmen and filmmakers using sexually explicit videos in four years between 2018 and 2022.
When approached by journalists while being taken to court, Archana Nag said, “I was sent to court by forcibly closing my mouth and covering my face. I could not know what was happening to me during the first six days of my arrest. My family is under the scanner.
“Why are the so-called victims hiding? I have not received any money from Akshya Parija.”
The ED has also registered a case against the woman, her husband, and their associates Shradhanjali Behera and Khageswar Patra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED has so far grilled nine people, including Patra and Behera, in connection with the case.
The central agency has also traced Rs 2.5 crore deposited in the accounts of the husband-wife duo between 2017 and 2022.