The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) has concluded that actor Kadambari Narendra Kumar Jethwani extorted money from YSRCP functionary and film producer Kukkala Vidyasagar by threatening to file false criminal cases against him and leak their intimate photographs.
The findings, contained in the agency’s chargesheet, come nearly two years after the case became politically contentious. After the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) came to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2024, three senior IPS officers were suspended for allegedly illegally detaining and harassing Kadambari while investigating a separate case involving her. The latest chargesheet has reignited the political row, with the YSRCP accusing the TDP of misusing women’s protection laws for political purposes, while the state government has maintained that the two cases are distinct.
According to the CID, documentary and electronic evidence, including bank transaction records, cheque details, call data records, and electronic communications, show that the Mumbai-based actor extorted money from Vidyasagar by threatening to damage his reputation.
The chargesheet states that Vidyasagar first met Kadambari at a social event in Hyderabad in November 2009, where she allegedly introduced herself as “Natasha.” Investigators alleged that she initiated contact by claiming she had misplaced her phone and asking him to call it. She then allegedly developed a friendship with him by portraying herself as a financially distressed aspiring medical student and a beauty pageant title holder.
According to the CID, Kadambari induced Vidyasagar into a personal relationship and voluntarily accompanied him to a hotel, where the two took intimate photographs together.
Initially, she allegedly sought financial assistance citing educational expenses and personal hardship. However, the chargesheet alleges that in May 2013, she forcibly entered Vidyasagar’s hotel room in Mumbai and demanded money. When he refused, she allegedly threatened to file a false rape case against him and circulate their intimate photographs among his family members.
The CID said Vidyasagar subsequently paid Kadambari Rs 1 lakh through a cheque on May 14, 2013, and another Rs 50,000 via bank transfer on October 19, 2015. Investigators alleged that she continued to blackmail him over several years by threatening to file false criminal cases and release the photographs unless he paid her money. Police alleged that she extorted at least Rs 6.7 lakh and used multiple phone numbers to harass him.
Case gets politicised
The case took on political significance after the TDP assumed office in Andhra Pradesh in 2024.
Soon after forming the government, cases were registered against former Vijayawada Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata, former Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Gunni, and former Intelligence Chief PSR Sitharama Anjaneyulu for allegedly illegally detaining and harassing Kadambari while investigating a separate case. The officers were later suspended.
They were accused of acting in haste by arresting Kadambari before formally registering a case and of allegedly colluding with Vidyasagar.
Following the CID’s chargesheet, the YSRCP accused the ruling TDP of using women’s protection as a “political weapon.”
The party said that after assuming office, the TDP government had portrayed Kadambari as a victim of police excesses. It recalled that IT Minister Nara Lokesh and Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha had publicly supported Kadambari, alleging that she had been illegally detained and tortured by police at the behest of the previous YSRCP government. The YSRCP argued that the latest chargesheet contradicted that narrative and questioned the arrest, suspension, and public humiliation of the senior IPS officers.
Responding to the controversy on Thursday, July 23, the Andhra Pradesh government said the case was being deliberately misrepresented to malign its image.
The government said the controversy involved two separate criminal cases, in one of which Kadambari was an accused and in the other a victim.
The first case concerned allegations that Kadambari extorted money from Vidyasagar. The second case relates to allegations that a false criminal case was foisted on her, accusing her of executing a fraudulent land agreement with Vidyasagar’s associates using forged documents.
The government alleged that Kadambari and her family members were arrested and illegally detained for several days at a guest house and a private hotel, where they were subjected to harassment. It said these actions led to the suspension of the three IPS officers.
The government argued that while Kadambari may be an accused in the extortion case, the alleged illegal actions of certain police officers in the second case made her a victim.
Meanwhile, Kadambari, in a press statement on Thursday, July 23, rejected the CID's findings and described the investigation as “flawed.”
She denied extorting or blackmailing Vidyasagar and accused the investigating agency of making false and baseless claims. According to her, the chargesheet relies primarily on financial transactions amounting to around Rs 4.5 lakh, call detail records, and electronic communications, while ignoring her version of events.