A fortnight after Surendra Shetty, father of actress Shilpa Shetty, was arrested in a case of alleged extortion, a local Surat court on Friday granted him conditional bail.

District and sessions court judge K M Vin granted liberty to Surendra on condition that he should cooperate with the investigations and furnish a surety bond of Rs 50,000.

This was Surendra's fourth bail plea. His bail petitions were rejected twice by Surat court and once by the Gujarat high court on the ground that there was prima facie evidence to hold him in the alleged extortion case.

He is facing the charge of 'hiring' gangsters to recover Rs 8 million payable to Shilpa by saree manufacturer Pankaj Agarwal for modelling in an ad film.

Umra police had registered a case against Surendra, his wife Sunanda and a gangster for allegedly indulging in extortion.

The police claim to have in their possession recorded telephonic talks, which reveal that Agarwal was threatened by Shilpa's parents to pay the money or face consequences.

Surendra was arrested on June 20 after he surrendered in deference to the wishes of Gujarat high court, which rejected his bail plea.