The Dindoshi police on Thursday night arrested two young men who allegedly posed as “policemen” and demanded `50,000 as extortion money from a local shopkeeper selling tobacco in Goregaon (east). According to the Dindoshi police, the two accused have been identified as Samir Shaikh (31) and Ganesh Pathare (26).
While Shaikh is a resident of Manik Chintamani chawl in Malad (west), Pathare is a resident of Santosh Nagar in Goregaon (east). The duo does not have a criminal record at Dindoshi police station, but their antecedents are being checked with other police stations in Mumbai.
At around noon on Thursday, the duo dressed in plain clothes, went to the complainant Naresh Kumar Gupta’s shop in Devraj Jeeva chawl in Malad (east) and demanded `50,000 as extortion money.
Gupta, in his statement to police, said, one of the accused threatened him saying they have received a complaint against him for illegally selling gutka to local residents and so wanted to raid his house.
They then demanded `50,000 to let him off, and Gupta paid `15,000. The duo, however, demanded the remaining amount of `35,000 and said they would return at around 8.30 pm. They threatened him that he would be sent to jail if he does not pay the rest. Meanwhile, Gupta called the police to verify the credentials of the duo and on
learning that they were lying, he rushed to the Dindoshi police station and narrated his ordeal. Accordingly, the police nabbed the duo when they returned to collect the remaining amount.
“They have been produced before a magistrate’s court and remanded to police custody till September 24,” said police sub-inspector, Dyaneshwar Gaushete of Dindoshi police station.