The anti-extortion cell of the Pune city police initiated a probe and a first information report (FIR) was lodged at Vimantal police station against Bhosale under sections 385 and 387 of the Indian Penal Code related to extortion charges. (file)The Pune Crime Branch has booked a self-proclaimed RTI activist with a criminal record on extortion charges for demanding Rs 25 lakh from a former BJP corporator to withdraw certain RTI applications, the Pune city police revealed on Tuesday.
The police identified the accused as Jitendra Ashok Bhosale, a resident of Viman Nagar, and said that he was booked in six criminal offences, including three extortion cases, in the past.
The former corporator’s husband had lodged a complaint against Bhosale recently, saying he had filed RTI applications in different government offices against the complainant and his wife, alleging their involvement in illegal construction, police said.
Bhosale allegedly demanded Rs 25 lakh for withdrawing these applications and threatened to defame the complainant on social media during the upcoming civic elections. He also allegedly threatened to frame the complainant in a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act if his demand was not met, the police said in a press release.
The anti-extortion cell of the Pune city police initiated a probe and a first information report (FIR) was lodged at Vimantal police station against Bhosale under sections 385 and 387 of the Indian Penal Code related to extortion charges.
A police team headed by inspector Balaji Pandhare of the anti-extortion cell is investigating the case.