Ahmedabad: A court in Ahmedabad on June 3 stayed the arrest of Surendra Shetty, the main accused in an extortion case.

Surendra Shetty, father of a popular Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, has been accused of utilising the services of the underworld to recover money which, according to him, is due to the actress from an industrialist for a modelling assignment.

Last month, police had registered a case against Surendra Shetty on the complaint of Pankaj Agarwal, owner of Prafful Sarees, a garment manufacturer. Shetty has been absconding since then evading Surat city police who wanted to question him. While passing the order "not to arrest" Shetty, the High Court asked him to appear before the police within 24 hours and also surrender his passport.

"The court, after considering the merits, has granted protection till June 17. We don't have the copy of the order so we cannot tell you much," Shetty's counsel Prabhakar Upadhyaya said.

The Shettys allege Prafful company reportedly owes over Rs 80 lakhs to Shilpa for an advertisement campaign she did for them a few years ago.

Police say Shilpa had received Rs 10 lakhs for the much- publicised campaign but her parents felt it was too little. Shettys asked Agarwal to cough up more as they were still using the ads featuring Shilpa, but Agarwal pleaded his inability, saying his business was no longer profitable.

ANI