Mon Mar 24 08:28:16 UTC 2025: ## Tech Billionaire Accuses Chennai Police of Extortion Amid Bitter Divorce Battle
**Chennai, India – March 26, 2025** – Prasanna Sankar, co-founder of the multi-billion dollar HR-tech startup Rippling, has publicly accused Chennai police of extortion and his estranged wife of harassment amidst a highly contentious divorce and custody battle. Sankar, who has since left Rippling, claims he is on the run from authorities after his wife, Dhivya, filed a kidnapping complaint against him.
Sankar alleges that the Chennai police, specifically officers from the Thirumangalam station, are demanding a bribe of Rs 25 lakh (approximately $300,000 USD) to release a friend, Gokul, who was detained without a warrant. He further claims that police are illegally tracking his location, car, financial transactions, and internet activity without a proper FIR (First Information Report). Sankar states that the police have also harassed his mother and raided properties associated with him, including an Airbnb.
The accusations stem from a complex divorce and custody dispute involving the couple’s nine-year-old son. Sankar maintains that a US court ruled in his favor in an international child abduction case, resulting in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) granting him shared custody. However, disagreements over the MoU, particularly regarding the son’s passport, led to the current situation. Sankar alleges that his wife’s accusations of assault, rape, and the distribution of nude videos are false, citing a Singaporean police investigation that cleared him of all charges. He also claims his wife abducted their son to the US before returning to India this month.
Conversely, Dhivya’s complaint reportedly paints a vastly different picture. Local media reports claim she accuses Sankar of forcibly taking their son and alleges he is a “sex predator” with a history of secretly recording women (an allegation he denies, citing his exoneration in Singapore). She further accuses him of tax evasion, claiming he transferred assets to family members in Thailand to avoid US taxes and threatened her into signing documents preventing her from reporting these alleged crimes. She also states that she and her son, US citizens, believed they could live peacefully in India upon their return but are facing intimidation and harassment.
A top Chennai police official has denied Sankar’s allegations as baseless. Both Sankar and Dhivya are reportedly planning joint press conferences to further detail their accounts. The case continues to unfold, highlighting a dramatic clash between a high-profile tech entrepreneur and his estranged wife, with serious allegations leveled against both parties and the Chennai Police.
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