Kutch industrialist gets 2cr extortion call

Rajkot: A leading industrialist from Kutch but settled in Dubai for the last 18 years, lodged a complaint against three persons for allegedly tormenting him with Rs 2 crore extortion demand and threatening to kill his daughter. His daughter handles a part of the victim's family business in Gandhidham, Kutch.
In his complaint to Gandhidham police, Sanjay Poddar, promoter of S Poddar International Pvt Ltd, named Bharat Jalu, Jayantilal alias Jaisukh Naathki and a person named Irani who lives in Muscat.

Poddar handles TMT bars and scrapyard businesses in Gandhidham, while his daughter manages a holiday resort and a school there. Poddar frequently travels to Gandhidham for business purposes. He lives in Dubai with his wife and son.
Before a few years, Naathki got acquainted with Poddar through his maternal uncle Lalji who had been working with the industrialist for the last 18 years. Naathki was working as a driver in Dubai. Jalu and Irani were also in Dubai and Muscat respectively and doing some business there and got acquainted with Poddar through Naathki.
Police said that the businesses of Jalu and Irani collapsed during the Covid-19 pandemic while Naathki also lost his job as a driver.
Jalu and Naathki returned to their natives in Keshod and Porbandar respectively and so did Naathki.
In dire need of money, the accused requested Poddar to help them get work or some business in Gandhidham. They even asked for financial help, but he refused.
As they did not get a favourable response from Poddar, Jalu and Naathki decided to extort Rs 2 crore from him. They sent him messages threatening to defame him and even gave an application to the CID crime in January 2019, alleging that Poddar was resorting to unscrupulous business practices. However, police found these allegations false after they recorded Poddar’s statement.
After Poddar blocked Jalu’s number on his phone, the accused duo took help of Irani who started pounding him with threat messages from Muscat.
Jalu and Naathki, who were aware of Poddar’s flourishing business, then allegedly threatened to kill his daughter.
On August 11, Poddar came to Gandhidham, and after consultation with his family members, lodged a complaint late on Thursday night.
The accused were booked for issuing threats, hatching a criminal conspiracy and attempting to extort.