Mumbai: History-sheeter held for posing as anti-narcotics personnel to extort money from businessman

One person from a six-member gang was arrested for allegedly posing as anti-narcotics personnel and abducting and extorting money from a businessman in Versova in the western part of Mumbai, a Crime Branch official said.

The gang entered a restaurant on Sunday and threatened to implicate the victim in a drugs case if he did not pay them Rs 50 lakh, the official said.

They abducted him and ensured he gave them Rs 5.30 lakh and a mobile phone. The accused drove the car around the city all through the night. A cheque of Rs 20 lakh that the businessman gave to the accused could not be enchased due to technical reasons, he said.

They allowed him to leave at a spot in Andheri. He approached Versova police station where a case was registered, he said. A Crime Branch team conducting a parallel probe managed to arrest the main accused, Bandra Unit IX senior inspector Daya Nayak said.

Main accused Deepak Jadhav is a history sheeter who has been accused of a robbery in a firm in Pune, kidnapping in Andheri’s DN Nagar area and two offences in Chunabhatti, police said. Jadhav has confessed to the crime and revealed the role of his five associates, and efforts were on to nab them, as per police.