Mumbai gangster DK Rao operates from jail

Crime branch sleuths have taken custody of gangster DK Rao for allegedly demanding Rs50 lakh from a VP Road-based steel businessman. The police are now investigating how Rao was able to operate his extortion racket from within the jail, sources said.

According to the police, on October 19, the victim had received a phone call, wherein the caller ordered him to meet Rao at the latter’s Dharavi residence on October 25 with Rs50 lakh. The police later arrested an aide of Rao, Vinay Babar alias Vicky, from Panvel.

“Investigations revealed that two persons arrested for their alleged involvement in the firing in the victim’s office on July 6, had become friends with Rao in jail and had requested him to help them extort money from the victim,” said joint commissioner of police, crime, Himanshu Roy.