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2 held for trying to dupe film producer

The accused have been identified as Thane residents Murli Mundra (36), a software engineer, and Mahesh Khetwani (41), a businessman.

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The city crime branch sleuths have arrested two persons, who allegedly, acting as income tax commissioner and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) head, demanded Rs50 lakh from a film producer. The duo tried to scare the victim in the name of a DRI raid to extort money from him.

The accused have been identified as Thane residents Murli Mundra (36), a software engineer, and Mahesh Khetwani (41), a businessman. According to the police, the complainant (name withheld), a noted film producer, lives in Lokhandwala, where he also has an office. On May 5, he received a call from an unknown number, which he did not answer. Minutes later, he received an SMS from the same number. In the message, the sender identified himself as IT commissioner Anil Kumar.

"The complainant then called the number. The person on the other side said a few of his guests wanted to see a movie shoot, and if he could make some arrangements for that. The complainant then informed his staff at a Film City set about it," said a crime branch officer, on the condition of anonymity.

He added, "On May 23, the complainant got an SMS stating, 'Hi, Mr Kumar, take care. There is news of DRI raid at your place. I got the news and thought to inform you.' The complainant then called up Anil, who said he had contacts in DRI and there was no need to worry. Kumar then gave him a number, claiming it belonged to DRI head Ajit Kumar. The complainant called up Ajit, who said the DRI was to raid his office, but since Anil is his good friend, the raid has been cancelled."

Ajit then gave his personal assistant Akshay's number to the complainant. "Akshay asked the complainant to an Andheri mall, where he said the producer will have to pay Rs50 lakh to get the raid cancelled. When the complainant refused to pay the amount, Akshay started negotiating. Meanwhile, Anil kept calling the complainant continuously, stating that he had to pay from his own pocket to get the raid cancelled. The complainant then smelt something amiss and made inquiries at the IT and DRI offices, only to realise that there were no officers with the names Anil Kumar and Ajit Kumar working with them," said the officer.

The producer then lodged a complaint with the Oshiwara police, and the case was probed by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the crime branch. The complainant was asked to record the accused persons' calls, said sources.

"On Wednesday, when the accused came to collect the money, they were apprehended. We have seized the mobile phone that they were using. The car and trap money, too, have been seized," the officer added.

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