Three people, who tried to extort money from Bhayandar bar owner, arrested

THANE: The Thane (rural) police on Tuesday arrested three people who tried to extort money from an orchestra bar owner in Bhayandar by threatening him with raids at his establishment on the virtue of their influential contacts in the local police circle. Interestingly one of the extortionist identified as- Lalit Bhaneriya (36), posed as the vice president of BJP’s local youth wing. According to the police, Bhaneriya along with his accomplices-Rajesh Yadav (31) and Harendra Singh (29) demanded Rs.20,000 as monthly hafta from the complainant – Ashok Shetty who operates Hotel Roopesh- a live orchestra bar opposite in Bhayandar (east). Boasting about their influential contacts with police officers , the trio demanded the money from the owner, to avoid police raids at his establishment. After negotiations, the demand was scaled down to Rs.10,000. However, the bar owner informed the police, following which a trap was laid and the trio was caught after they accepted Rs.5,000 as the first installment. The police have also seized Bhaneriya’s jeep which was used in the crime. BJP district president Hemant Mhatre was quick to dash off a letter to the police station claiming ignorance about any such office bearer. This despite of the fact that Bhaneriya owed his allegiance to BJP’s youth wing and not the parent body which is headed by Mhatre. “Lalit Bhaneriya is nowhere connected with our party.” said Mhatre. Not ruling out the trio’s involvement in other extortion cases committed by them in the region, Sr. PI- Ram Bhalsingh said, “A case of extortion has been registered against the trio who have been remanded to custody.” The Navghar police is conducting further investigations. FPJ News Service