24 September,2024 10:42 PM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
Representative pic
A 40-year-old engineer employed with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) was allegedly blackmailed by seven people who claimed that his degree was fake.
Initially, the extortionists demanded Rs 55 lakh to not reveal the matter, but later settled for Rs 9 lakh. The complainant paid Rs 2 lakh to the accused last month and Rs 3 lakh on Monday, September 23.
Following his complaint, the officers from the Crime Branch's Anti-Extortion Cell conducted a raid and arrested six individuals involved in the racket from Goregaon and DN Nagar. One of the accused is absconding. Further investigation into the case is ongoing, the police said.
The accused have been identified as Pratap Ashwini Chaukhandre alias Bablu, 49; Abhayraj Hansraj Patel alias Raja Bhai, 48;, Santosh Padmnab Pujari, 45; Shekhar Ramesh Sakpal, 33; Ashiwa Surendra Pandey, 33, and Rafique Babu Mulani, 42. One suspect, Satyajeet Narvekar, is still at large, the police said.
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According to police sources, the accused contacted the engineer and threatened to defame him by claiming that his educational qualifications were fake. They also warned him that two individuals, were planning to kill him owing to his work. They demanded Rs 55 lakh to keep the matter under wraps.
"Chaukhandre and Patel took â¹2 lakh from the complainant on August 5 in a house at Kandivali which is owned by a man named Sukhlal Garg. Later, Pujari, Sakpal, and Narvekar posed as members of 'Abhinav Charitable Trust,' and asked the complainant to pay more money. They were caught red-handed during a raid by the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch," said an officer.
A first information report (FIR )has been registered at Goregaon Police Station under the relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Following this, a team of Mumbai Police's Crime Branch arrested three individuals from the Abhinav Charitable Trust's office at in Goregaon West. The other three accused were apprehended in DN Nagar.
The accused were produced before the court on Tuesday, September 24, and have been remanded in police custody, the officer added.
