5 Chhota Rajan men held for attacking Virar builder

Five men, believed to be working for underworld don Chhota Rajan, have been arrested on charges of attacking a Virar builder and damaging his SUV after he refused to pay them protection money. The police are on the lookout for three of their accomplices.

Complainant Rajendra Madhukar Kondkar is a well-known developer and has many projects in and around the suburb. According to the Virar police, a gang of local goons, who already face several cases, were trying to extort money from him for the past many days.

On March 8, Kondkar had been to one of his sites – Air India colony – where a group of eight men approached him and asked for protection money. However, the businessman did not acquiesce to their demand.

The 31-year-old told the police that sometime later, the thugs stopped his vehicle near Hotel Durga on the Chandansar Road. The men, who were armed with swords and hockey sticks, then attacked him and smashed a window screen of his vehicle.

Police sources say the history-sheeters work in collaboration with Chhota Rajan gang members to extort money from local developers and contractors.

All the attackers had gone into hiding following the incident. After working on several inputs, the Virar police managed to arrest five of them on Wednesday. "They have been booked for attempt to murder and rioting with weapons, while three of their accomplices are still absconding," said Senior Inspector N B Kohinkar of Virar police station.

The policeman added, "A Vasai court has remanded the arrested persons in police custody till April 19 and further investigations are on."