Prasanna Sankar, who co-founded Rippling with Parker Conrad, is in an ugly divorce and custody battle with his wife, Divya Shashidhar. In March this year, he alleged that he was on the run from Chennai Police and added that they had demanded Rs 25 lakh for the release of his friend Gokul Krishnan, who, according to Prasanna, was being coerced by the authorities to aid in locating him. Following his explosive claims, the Chennai Police launched an investigation and found his claims “fabricated” and “baseless”. The claims, cops said, were made to “garner public sympathy” and to “exert pressure on police”.
In its public advisory, Greater Chennai Police said, “Prasanna’s accusations against the police personnel were baseless and devoid of merit. It was revealed [after the inquiry] that the claims made by Prasanna were fabricated and deliberately intended to garner public sympathy while exerting undue pressure on the Police.”
The inquiry into the alleged extortion was conducted by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar. “During the inquiry, Prasanna claimed that his advocate had informed him it would cost Rs 25 lakhs to secure the release of his staff, Gokul Krishnan,” the police said.
However, when police questioned the advocate, he categorically denied these claims, asserting that he “neither arranged nor provided any money to the police authorities”. He even furnished WhatsApp conversations to substantiate his claims.
Gokul Krishnan also testified that no police officer had demanded money from him, either directly or indirectly. The co-founder of the $10 billion company had claimed that police were “harassing Gokul and he wasn’t produced before the magistrate”. “Instead, every morning they call him to the station and make him sit till night and let him go,” he wrote in his social media post on March 23.
The police warned that publishing or circulating false and unverified information is a punishable offence and urged the public to refrain from circulating such information.
Public Advisory
— GREATER CHENNAI POLICE -GCP (@chennaipolice_) April 25, 2025
🚔Prasanna and Divya, a married couple residing in the United States, have a nine-year-old son. Due to a misunderstanding between them, they are currently living separately and co-parenting their son in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated… pic.twitter.com/Zyv0m3zik6
Prasanna Sankar’s counterresponse
After the Police shared the public advisory, Sankar quoted the post and claimed that the investigation was carried out by the same DC who authorised raids on him and demanded a fair investigation into the case.
“Corruption investigation was done by the same DC who authorised the raids on me. The accused AC reports to the DC. Would a common man make up stuff and make the police his enemy? Both Gokul and Sachi have been asked by Prem Anand for money, saying it’s going to the cops, which they can corroborate,” he wrote on X, before adding, “An inspector even told Gokul directly, after my tweet: ‘Forget 25L, even if you pay 1cr, we are not letting you go.’ I’ll be writing to the commissioner and requesting either a fair investigation or at least leave me alone to live my life. Else, I’ll have to go to the courts for a transfer of investigation to the CBI.”
“As a private citizen, I have no reason to fabricate anything or antagonise the police. The ongoing investigation is being led by the same Deputy Commissioner who authorised the raids on me and the Assistant Commissioner, whose name finds a mention in the corruption charge, reports directly to her. It raises questions about impartiality,” Prasanna Sankar told FinancialExpress.com.
He added, “I have written to the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner requesting a fair, independent investigation. Failing which, we will approach the courts for justice. It might be pertinent to note here that not a single charge against me has been upheld by any court anywhere in the world so far. All my wife’s false complaints have been dismissed thus far. Even on this one, the courts have granted me interim custody of the child now.”
Prasanna Sankar-Divya Shashidar case: Rippling co-founder’s claims
Prasanna and Divya, who have a nine-year-old son, previously lived together in the United States. However, following personal disputes, they began living separately while co-parenting under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
As per the MoU, Prasanna agreed to a financial settlement that included a one-time payment of Rs 9 crore, monthly support of Rs 4.3 lakh, and a 50-50 custody arrangement for their son. However, he later alleged his wife didn’t deposit the child’s passport in a common locker. “She started claiming that the MOU was not valid and she wanted more [money] and would go to the US again to file a divorce,” Prasanna claimed.
The family, as per Chennai Police, came to India on March 3, and Prasanna took custody of his son from Divya with the assistance of Gokul Krishnan, but failed to return the child to her by the agreed date of March 5. Divya subsequently filed a police complaint on March 10 seeking custody. That’s when, the police said, Prasanna made extortion claims on social media, adding that he has been on the run from the police.
On March 23, Sankar, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), alleged that his wife of 10 years had engaged in an extramarital affair with a man named Anoop, citing WhatsApp conversations and hotel booking records provided by Anoop’s wife. The couple then headed for a divorce, alimony and custody of their son.
He claimed that since his wife was unhappy with the settlement amount, she filed a false domestic violence and rape complaints against him.
“She made further fake complaints that I raped her (a month after the alleged rape). That I circulated her nude videos, etc. Singapore police have investigated these allegations, found them baseless, and have cleared me of all charges,” he wrote on X. He also added that he won a child abduction case in the International court.
Prasanna, in the same post, alleged Rs 25 lakh extortion by Chennai Police after they arrested Gokul from Bengaluru and brought him back to Chennai for questioning.
He also said that his entire family had been hiding from cops and that they are tracking him “illegally” without any FIR. He, however, later updated that he and his family were at “peace” after police assured him that no arrests would be made. He also shared that Gokul was released.
Dhivya Sashidhar’s counterclaims
In her statements to the media, Dhivya accused Prasanna of forcibly taking their son and refusing to return him. She alleged that Prasanna had a history of misconduct, labelling him a “sex predator”.
“He installed hidden cameras in the bathroom and bedroom to film women, and engaged in sexual assault. I was also a victim of this. The Singapore police arrested him for these crimes, but he was released on conditional bail,” she had claimed.
“Not only that, but many years ago, he was arrested in a sting operation in San Francisco for solicitation and prostitution. Because of this, he lost his position at his company,” she added.
According to Dhivya, Prasanna also threatened her and their son over a property dispute, after which they were forced to relocate from Singapore to India. She alleged that Prasanna engaged in financial misconduct, including the fraudulent transfer of matrimonial assets to avoid US taxes.
“While we were in the US, my husband fraudulently transferred all our matrimonial assets to his father in India. He avoided paying US taxes and transferred the money to his father, who then transferred it to my husband’s brother, Vidyasagar, in Thailand. Now, I don’t know where all that money is,” she told the media.
She also claimed she was coerced into signing legal documents to cover up his tax evasion activities.
Prasanna Sankar and Divya Sashidhar met 10 years ago at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (NIT Trichy). Sankar co-founded Rippling and left it in 2020. He then founded 0xPPL, a social network for crypto natives, in January 2023.