Two men, allegedly affiliated to wanted underworld don Chhota Shakeel, were arrested by the city crime branch on Monday for allegedly issuing threats to Congress MLA Baba Siddiqui. The two have been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) by the anti-extortion cell of the crime branch.
The two have been identified as Ahmed Langda and businessman Shams Sayyed, and were produced before an MCOCA court which remanded them to police custody till July 11. Additional CP (crime) Niket Kaushik said, “They were called for questioning and after interrogating them we confirmed their involvement in the extortion scheme. They were subsequently placed under arrest. The issue pertains to a piece of real estate at Hill Road in Bandra. The two are confirmed Chhota Shakeel affiliates.”
The crime branch initiated investigations after Mr Siddiqui filed a complaint last week when Langda started conveying Chhota Shakeel’s threats. Siddiqui and Sayyed had entered into a partnership for redeveloping the Hill Road property, but later fell out over a dispute. According to crime branch sources, Sayyed wanted the MLA to agree to certain conditions, which the latter refused. He then took up the matter with Langda who made threat calls asking him to “settle” the issue as soon as possible.
The two have been booked under Section 34 (common intention), 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of the MCOCA. Cases registered under the MCOCA are non-bailable.
Interestingly, this is the second time Mr Siddiqui is receiving a threat after the first such instance in December 2010. Mr Siddiqui, who was vacationing with his family in Delhi, received a threat via SMS, that asked him to pay `10 lakh, failing which he would be “sent to God.”
It was, however, later revealed that the threats were issued by the accused, who had procured the SIM card in his rival’s name, in order to get him arrested.