Bangalore, June 29 (IANS) The Art of Living, a socio-cultural and religious body on Bangalore’s outskirts, is getting extortion calls to pay up Rs.42 crore or face defamation, a spokesman said Tuesday.

‘We have received extortion calls demanding Rs.42 crore, failing which they have threatened to malign and defame our organisation,’ Air of Living spokesman Girish Govind told IANS.

The organisation is located on Kanakapura Road, about 20 km from here. It was founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar two decades ago and is engaged in stress-management and social-religious services.

‘We have filed a complaint with the police in Ramanagara district against the unknown callers who have been making the threat calls in Kannada and English,’ Govind said.

Art of Living has informed Karnataka Director General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh about the extortion calls.