Mumbai: Amidst reports of abscondance by Surendra Shetty, father of actress Shilpa Shetty, in a case of alleged extortion, a team of Surat police on June 1 left for Ambernath in neighbouring Thane district to arrest him.

The team went to Ambernath, to locate Shetty who was not traceable at his Versova residence in Mumbai or any other place, after a Surat Court rejected his bail plea on May 30 holding that he was prima facie involved in the alleged crime.

Surendra's lawyer H H Nagi said that his client is not an absconder and is busy making preparations to move Ahmedabad High Court on June 2 to appeal against the Surat court's verdict rejecting his bail plea.

"I do not know his whereabouts but he may be in Gujarat", Nagi said.

The lawyer said it would be wrong to assume that Surendra is an absconder. He also debunked media reports that Surat police would move the court to declare him an absconder and attach his properties.

"The court would not declare him an absconder. At the most he can be called `evader of law' but certainly not an absconder. Surendra had appeared before a court in Mumbai and until his appeal is heard by Ahmedabad High Court, he may not come out publicly", Nagi added.

Surendra is facing a charge of 'hiring' a gangster to recover Rs 80 lakh payable to his daughter Shilpa by Praful Saree Company owner Pankaj Agrawal for acting in an ad film.

A team of Surat police arrived on May 31 to arrest Surendra in Mumbai. They visited his residence in Versova but he was not at home.

Surat police had sought help of Mumbai police to arrest him.

Police claim to possess a tape-recorded telephonic conversation of Shilpa's parents, Surendra and Sunanda with Agrawal, which allegedly indicate that the latter was threatened to pay the dues.

Umra police in Surat registered a case against Surendra, Sunanda and a gangster charging them with extortion and conspiracy.

PTI