What really happened
On the evening of 2 June 2022, there was a restaurant opening in Worli, Mumbai.

Tarun Thadani — founder of dharte.com and a family man living in Mumbai — had helped send out invitations. He attended briefly and left. He was gone before anything happened.

After Tarun left, Ali Asgar Merchant and Abhishek Badriprasad Saraf got into an argument. Ali Asgar slapped Saraf. That was the incident. A slap at a party. Nothing more.

Saraf went to the police. He wanted action. But the police told him what the law says: a slap is a minor offence. They were not going to open a serious criminal case over it.

Saraf was not satisfied.

So he upgraded the complaint.

He went to the Anti-Extortion Cell. He told them a completely new story — that Ali Asgar had demanded Rs 1 crore from him as extortion. A charge that did not exist anywhere in his original 4 June 2022 complaint (ID: 23244/2022). Not a single word about extortion. Not a single word about a money demand.

Two months after that original complaint, the story had been completely rewritten. And now, out of nowhere, the name of Tarun Thadani — who had left the restaurant before anything happened — was in it.

On 12-13 August 2022, FIR No. 0654/2022 was registered at Dadar Police Station. No accused was examined. No phone records were checked. No bank transactions were verified. No CCTV was reviewed before the FIR was filed.

Investigators who later looked into this matter found that Inspector Sanjay Taralgatti of the Anti-Extortion Cell appears to have been manipulated into registering a baseless complaint without any tangible evidence.

How does a man walk into a police station, change his complaint two months later to add a Rs 1 crore extortion charge that never existed, and get an innocent man's name added — all without any verification?

That question has never been answered.

 
Who is Abhishek Badriprasad Saraf?
This is not the first time Abhishek Badriprasad Saraf has manipulated the system. This is who he is.

Saraf is from Calcutta. He came to Mumbai and used personal connections to get close to a respected business family — the directors of Martin Burn Limited. He earned their trust. Then he obtained their Power of Attorney, forged their documents, diverted their rental income into his own bank account, took Rs 40 lakhs from them, borrowed money he never repaid, and ended up illegally occupying their entire third floor at Esplanade House — a Rs 150 crore UNESCO heritage property in Fort, Mumbai that was once the home of Jamsetji Tata.

Martin Burn Ltd took him to the Calcutta High Court for fraud. That case has been running since 2012. Saraf still lives in the property.

Despite complaints filed with the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Prime Minister's Office, and multiple police departments across Maharashtra and Bengal — Saraf has, until now, managed to avoid accountability.

This is a man with a long and documented record of using trust, paperwork, and connections to manipulate people and institutions. The Mumbai Police and the Anti-Extortion Cell are simply the latest institutions he appears to have worked.

 
Four years. Today is yet another hearing.
Since August 2022, Tarun Thadani has been living as a criminal accused.

The Times of India published a story about the chargesheet in June 2023. Tarun's name was in the headline. His reputation was destroyed overnight.

In March 2024 the Sessions Court refused to discharge him.

Today — 9 June 2026 — he is in court again. Year four.

A family man who left a restaurant before an argument even started is still fighting a criminal case. Because someone wanted more than what a slap could get him from the police.

 
What we are asking
Investigate how and why the complaint was changed two months after it was filed — who added the Rs 1 crore extortion charge, and how Tarun's name appeared.
Investigate the role of Inspector Sanjay Taralgatti and the Anti-Extortion Cell in registering this FIR without examining any accused or verifying any evidence.
Investigate Abhishek Badriprasad Saraf — his fraudulent activities across Mumbai and Calcutta, his illegal occupation of heritage property, and whether he has influenced or manipulated police in this matter.
Clear Tarun Thadani's name. He was not there. He did nothing. Four years is enough.
Please sign. Please share. Today is his hearing.

— Adv. Sujata Shirasi, Counsel for Mr. Tarun Thadani