Man held for trying to extort neighbour

THANE: The Narpoli police have arrested a Bhiwandi resident for allegedly trying to extort his neighbour by threatening to kidnap his six-year-old daughter. The accused made his friend make an anonymous call to threaten the victim, but landed in the police net hours after the call was made.

According to Narpoli police, the complainant, Rajendra Mali (34), is a businessman by profession and stays with his family in the Oswal Park area near Anjur Phata, Bhiwandi. The police said that around 4.55pm on Wednesday, Mali received a call from an unknown number.

The caller, speaking in Hindi, told Mali that he had seen his six-year-old daughter step out to buy cold drinks and was going to kidnap her, but decided against it as she was a child. He further told Mali to keep ₹5 lakh ready, failing which the caller threatened to hurt him and his family, and warned him against going to the police.

After consulting family members and friends, Mali approached the Narpoli police, and an FIR was registered against unidentified persons. The police obtained the Call Detail Records (CDRs) of the number from which the call was made and started scanning them.

“The number was not known to Mali but when we examined the number’s call records, we identified a number that had been frequently called. We asked Mali to check this number against his saved contacts, and it turned out to be the number of one Bharatkumar Purohit (30), who stays in the same building as Mali,” an officer with the Narpoli police said. Purohit was immediately picked up for inquiries. He confessed to having hatched the plan.

“Purohit had enlisted the aid of his friend Vinod Jhend (42), asking him to make the call to Mali. The objective was to make a fast buck. We have arrested both the accused and charged them with extortion under the Indian Penal Code. After producing them in court, we obtained their custody till Saturday,” senior police inspector Maloji Shinde said.