Mahesh Manjrekar receives Rs 35 crore extortion call, accused arrested; Director lauds Mumbai Police

Bollywood filmmaker-actor Mahesh Manjrekar on Thursday lauded the Mumbai police for their 'swift action' in getting a 35-year-old, accused of demanding extortion from the director, in their custody. 

The Vaastav director took to Twitter and wrote, "A Big Thank You to the @CPMumbaiPolice & The Anti-extortion cell for the swift action in getting the culprit in custody. Bravo @MumbaiPolice (sic)".

A Big Thank You to the @CPMumbaiPolice & The Anti-extortion cell for the swift action in getting the culprit in custody. Bravo @MumbaiPolice.

— Mahesh Manjrekar (@manjrekarmahesh) August 27, 2020

A 34-year-old person, accused in connection of demanding extortion from director-actor Mahesh Manjrekar has been sent by the local court to police custody till September 2, said Mumbai Police here on Thursday. The accused, who was trying to extort Rs 35 crore through the threat call, is a resident of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.

Earlier, the person claimed himself to be a member of the underworld don Abu Salem gang and made an extortion call to Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar.

Manjrekar, the national award-winning filmmaker is known for directing critically acclaimed movies including `Viruddh`, `Vaastav: The Reality`, `Astitva`, and more.

This is not the first time that Bollywood celebrities have dealt with such cases of extortion calls. Albeit, not from any alleged underworld gang, actor Aditya Pancholi also had received extortion calls from an unknown person who demanded Rs 25 lakh, back in 2017.He filed a complaint to the Versova Police, and reportedly Pancholi, in his complaint, has stated that a person, who has introduced himself as Munna Pujari, has been calling and texting him since October 18, 2017.According to Pancholi, the suspect has also given him a bank account number to transfer money.

(With inputs from ANI)