Both accused were produced before a local court and remanded in police custody till April 25, an officer said. The Mumbai crime branch on Thursday arrested two persons, including a lawyer, for allegedly trying to extort money from a builder. As per police, the accused demanded Rs 10 crores from the builder and eventually agreed to accept a lower sum.
It was when the duo, identified as Santosh Sanskar and Arjun Multani, came to collect money from the builder that the police laid a trap and arrested them.
An officer from the Anti Extortion Cell of the Mumbai crime branch said that the two accused resided in a structure that was being redeveloped by the builder. The project is located along the eastern suburbs of the city.
βThe accused started claiming they had two units in the structure and should get a larger area. They kept raising complaints and threatened the builder that they would complain against him at the Slum Rehabilitation Authority,β the officer said. The accused allegedly started demanding money to not submit a complaint against the builder.
Tired of the harassment, the builder approached Mumbai Police following which an FIR was registered. The builder told the accused to collect 15 per cent of the amount demanded by them on Thursday on police instructions. When Sanskar and Multani came to collect the money, police arrested them.
Both accused were produced before a local court and remanded in police custody till April 25, an officer said.
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