Surat: Parents of film actress Shilpa Shetty Surendra and Sunanda allegedly involved in an extortion case, on June 7, claimed they had no underworld links and that it was a ploy to tarnish Shilpa's image.

Addressing a press conference, Sunanda said she had to demand Rs two crore from Pankaj Agrawal of Prafful Sarees, as he had failed to adhere to their year-long agreement after making the first and only payment of Rs four lakh. She had to make a subseqent demand by sending a legal notice.

She said they belonged to a civilised family and had no criminal link. "This is a ploy to tarnish the image of my daughter and the matter has mentally affected all the members of the family," she added.

Police have filed a case against Surendra, Sunanda and underworld don Fazlu Rehman for allegedly extorting money from owner of Praful Sarees Pankaj Agarwal. Police said Shilpa's parents had "hired" a gangster to recover some amount payable to the actress by Agarwal for acting in an advertising film.

"We tried to settle the deal with Agrawal before he falsely implicated us. Agarwal had made three calls in April to me in Kashmir where I was accompanying Shilpa for a film shoot. He finally filed an FIR with police on May 1 alleging that he was being threatened by an underworld gang," she said.

However, they refused to comment about the recorded conversation, saying the matter was sub-judice and added that "we are definitely innocent and will rely on judiciary to prove our innocence".

As per a Gujarat High Court directive, Surendra was on June 6 interrogated by Umra police for his alleged complicity in the case.

PTI