Mumbai: 5 arrested for ‘extortion’

An officer from Anti-Extortion Cell said that nearly four months ago, the five had started threatening a builder to pay Rs 60 lakh. (Representational Image)

The Crime Branch Friday arrested five men for allegedly threatening a builder at the behest of a gangster believed to be based out of India. The five men arrested included BMC sweeper, who allegedly collected information about builders and passed it on to the gangster. At least three of the accused have prior criminal records. DCP (Crime) Dilip Sawant said, “We had information that a gangster had been trying to regroup his gang and was making extortion calls. We have arrested five of his men, who had been threatening a builder based out of the Vasai-Virar belt.”

The five arrested are Rajesh Ambre alias ‘bhai’, who has over 50 cases registered against him; Amol Vichare, who had been in jail for murder; Bharat Solanki alias Anwar who would threaten builders; Bipin Dhotre, who handles the finances on behalf of the gangster and Deepak Lodhia alias Soni, the BMC sweeper.

An officer from Anti-Extortion Cell said that nearly four months ago, the five had started threatening a builder to pay Rs 60 lakh. The builder went on to file a complaint with the Crime Branch and an FIR was registered, leading to the arrests. “This is a big blow to the gangster who had been quiet for some time now and had been trying to start extortion racket in the city,” an officer said.