Police sources in the know about the investigation, said that gangster Santosh Shetty used to frequent some of his friends in the jail during meeting hours.
Gangster Santosh Shetty, 34, of Ravi Pujari gang, who was arrested by the crime branch for trying to extort Rs50lakh from an Andheri-based businessman, had been receiving personal information about the victim from an inmate lodged inside one of the jails in the city.
Sources within the police said that the investigation is on to find the ‘source of information’ as police suspect him to be close to the victim. Initial investigation has revealed that Thane-based Shetty was in touch with gangster Ravi Pujari and knew every one from his gang. But it is still not clear to the police whether he operated alone or worked for Pujari.
Police sources in the know about the investigation, said that Shetty used to frequent some of his friends in the jail during meeting hours. It is here that Shetty was approached by one of the jail inmates, who gave him information about the target and asked him to extort money from the victim by way of threats. It was decided that the booty be shared once the extortion money is received.
It is believed that Shetty made many calls to the victim from different public phone in the city since July and threatened him to reveal information about him. “When the victim realised that the caller knew so much about him, he obviously got terrified,” added the source.
The ransom amount was brought down to Rs5lakh from an initial demand of Rs50 lakh, the police said. Shetty was arrested in a police trap after he came to collect the ransom amount at Aaram Nagar area in Andheri on Tuesday, September 21.
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