Cops chargesheet Barhate and gang for land grab syndicate

Stacks of documents, mobile phones confiscated bring to fore the modus operandi that held people to ransom

The charge-sheet submitted by Kothrud police to court on Friday, in the case concerning extortion of city-based property developer Sudhir Karnataki, has pinned each and every accused for their role deploying criminal conspiracy and working in tandem for land grabbing.

The investigation unravelled the modus operandi of the gang, who would identify disputed properties and gain the trust of the owner, only to make a grab for the property. They also filed complaints against various government officers to blackmail them into submission. The police have seized stacks of documents, vehicles and mobile phones that were deployed to commit the crimes.

As reported earlier, the police had filed a case against RTI activist Ravindra Barhate, dismissed cop Shailesh Jagtap, journalist Devendra Jain and notorious criminal Amol Chavan, as well as other accomplices Siddharth Dangi, Vishal Dhore and Aslam Pathan, and a woman who’d filed a rape charge against Karnataki. They have been charged under sections 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life, etc.), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 212 (harbouring offender) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The police in their statement claimed, “The woman is a dancer and alcoholic, who’s was in relationship with many people in the city, including Chavan, with whom, according to her sister, she’s been associated for the past 15 years. Chavan is a history-sheeter, booked in some serious offences at various police stations. The suspended cop was his good friend.”

According to them, under the guise of being an RTI activist, Barhate scouted for lands stuck in litigation. He would connect and offer help to the owner of the property, before preparing a power of attorney or sale deed. He would demand part of the land or money as consideration for the help. Only, instead of helping, he would align with the other side to harass the owner. “It is a crime syndicate that has committed multiple crimes, using criminal force,” the police submitted.


They also stated that the group indulged in filing false complaints against government officers and corporators to harass them. Jagtap would extort money at gunpoint. Jain rendered his services to defame selected people, publishing false news against them. The woman had conspired with Chavan, Barhate, Jagtap and Jain and filed the rape case against Karnataki in January this year at Hinjawadi police station. They then demanded Rs 2 crore and land from his Rasta Peth property. Jagtap followed up with threats to book the property developer, while Jain talked of writing about the supposed rape. Finally, a fortnight later, Chavan threatened to kill Karantaki if he did not cough up the money.

The police pieced this story together from call details of the accused that laid bare the communications between the accused during the whole episode. Dangi is a close aide of Barhate, who’s involved in various crimes. Dhore and Pathan are accused of helping Barhate escape.

On Friday, the sessions court rejected the anticipatory bail application of Barhate in the extortion case registered with Deccan police station. Additional public prosecutor, Rajesh Kavediya said, “Barhate was granted interim bail but we explained the conspiracy and gravity of the crime. His custodial interrogation is required in each case filed against him in the past few days. This is a crime syndicate involved in serious crime like extortion, kidnapping, threatening and cheating. To uncover the entire conspiracy, each and every accused needs to be physically interrogated.”