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Two held for Rs 10 lakh extortion bid on South Mumbai builder

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The crime branch's anti-extortion cell (AEC) arrested two people for allegedly trying to extort Rs 10 lakh from a South Mumbai-based builder and developer on Friday. One of the accused is a rickshaw driver, who used the mobile phone a passenger left behind to make the extortion calls.

Ghatkopar resident Maroof Sayyed Amanat Ali, 32, hatched a plan to make some big bucks by threatening a builder who was working on a project in his neighbourhood. He roped in his friend, Parvez Ali Nawaz Khan, 34, a scrap dealer, to execute the plan.

According to addition commissioner of police (crime) KMM Prasanna, the builder started receiving threats in the form of SMSes and phone calls at odd hours a few days ago. The caller had introduced himself as Shahid Lala and demanded Rs 10 lakh from the builder for the safety and security of his family members.

Terrified, the builder lodged a complaint at Worli police station, while the AEC began a parallel probe into the matter.

"During investigation we learned that the calls were being made from Ghatkopar area. We asked the builder to tell the extortionist to come to Galleria in Powai and pick up the money. A trap was laid by the police posing as rickshaw drivers and call centre employees at the spot. The duo was nabbed as soon as they arrived in a rickshaw. Both don't have a criminal record. The case was solved in 24 hours," said senior inspector Vinayak Vast.

"Some days ago, a passenger had left behind his mobile phone in Ali's rickshaw. The complainant was working on a project in the neighbourhood of the accused. Ali then came up with the idea of extorting the builder using the same phone and asked his friend Khan to make the extortion calls," said a police source.

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