Bapunagar BJP MLA gets Rs10 lakh extortion calls

Odhav police officials have stepped up security for Bapunagar BJP MLA Jagrupsinh Rajput, following an application filed by him with the police about receiving extortion calls.

In the application, Rajput has stated that he has been getting threat calls for the last two weeks, but he ignored the calls thinking it to be some sort of a prank.

“The caller threatened to have him killed if he did not pay the extortion money of Rs10 lakh,” stated the application by the MLA. Following this, the minister has been given round-the-clock security.

The application further said that in the beginning, the threat calls would come only once in a day. However, in the last few days, the frequency increased considerably with the MLA receiving more than five calls every day. According to a source, the nature of the calls also turned sinister with the caller even abusing Rajput. Following this, the Odhav police officials deployed constables round-the-clock at MLA’s residence and office.

Sources said that the police have traced the call to Gurgaon and a team has already left for the city to track the culprits. When contacted, Rajput admitted that he had been receiving extortion calls but refused to comment further. He said that he did not want to speak about an ongoing investigation as it could be derailed.

While SM Sheikh, police inspector of Odhav could not be contacted for his comments, police inspector VD Brahmbhatt said that he was in Hyderabad and was not updated about the case. DCP Siddharth Khatri of zone-5 too did not respond to calls from dna.

Rajput, an advocate, was appointed to the council representing the state government in the case filed against Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) by the government. Earlier, Rajput was elected as the deputy mayor when he was in the Congress party and later joined the BJP to become the first-time MLA in 2012.