Maharashtra: Man held for extorting Rs 50,000 from builder in Thane

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The Thane Police in Maharashtra have arrested a carpenter, who is also an office-bearer of a labour union, for allegedly extorting Rs 50,000 from a builder in Thane city, an official said on Wednesday, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, the accused, Shantaram Shelke, 48, was arrested on Tuesday in an operation carried out by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Thane Police's crime branch.

In his complaint, victim, a prominent builder from Kalyan, said Shelke threatened him and demanded money, as per the PTI.

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"The accused had complained to the city civic body, alleging that one of the constructions made by him was illegal and it should be razed. He then approached the builder and told him that if he wants the complaint to be withdrawn, he should pay Rs 50,000," the official said, as per the PTI.

The victim lodged the complaint on January 15, based on which the police laid a trap the next day and caught the accused taking Rs 50,000 from the builder in Ulhasnagar, he said.

A case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 384 (extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) at the Ulhasnagar police station.

Following his arrest, the accused was remanded in police custody.

Meanwhile, a sessions court in Mumbai on Wednesday sentenced five men to life imprisonment for kidnapping and murdering a Mumbai-based builder over a property deal in April 2012, the news agency reported.

They were convicted under the Indian Penal Code sections for murder and kidnapping by additional sessions judge MH Pathan.

The builder, Nitin Dhakan, was kidnapped from suburban Borivali on April 26, 2012, by real estate broker Gopal Pandey, Harun Shaikh, Birbal Singh, Brijesh Mishra, Abhijeet Bhosale and Sachin Chorge, as per the prosecution.

The main accused Pandey died pending the trial.

A day after Dhakan went missing on April 26, 2012, his wife lodged a complaint with the local police.

The victim's brother-in-law received information that Dhakan's car had met with an accident on a road, but when he visited the spot, Dhakan was not found. Subsequently, Dhakan's wife lodged a kidnapping case, the prosecution said.

In June 2012, six men were arrested by the Mumbai Police's crime branch and their interrogation revealed that Dhakan was beaten to death in a forest in neighbouring Palghar district, and his body was set on fire using petrol.

(with PTI inputs)