New extortion case filed against Iqbal Kaskar, aides

The Thane crime branch have registered a fresh extortion case against gangster Iqbal Kaskar and his accomplices Mumtaz Shaikh and Asrar Ali Sayad on Tuesday on a case filed by a builder in north Mumbai.

Kaskar had threatened the complainant who had purchased the land in Gorai in 2015. The builder had purchased the land at Gorai for Rs. 2 crore and had paid money in full to the owner of the land.

Later, the price of the land doubled, however, the paperwork of the land deal was incomplete. So the complainant had approached the civil court to settle the matter. Mumtaz, a real estate agent from Mumbra acted as a middleman and his accomplice Israr Ali Sayyad extorted Rs.1 crore from the complainant on the pretext of settling the land deal at the behest of Kaskar.

During investigations, it was found that Kaskar had threatened the complainant to pay an additional of Rs.1 crore later to settle the land dispute.

According to Abhishek Trimukhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Thane crime branch, “Kaskar had threatened the complainant over the phone and extorted Rs. 3 crore for purchasing 38 acre land at Gorai. A First Information Report has been registered at Thane Nagar police station after taking the builder into confidence.”

An FIR has been registered at Thane Nagar police station for extortion (Section 384), Extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt (Section 386 and 387) of the Indian Penal Code.

This is the third case registered against Kaskar and his associates.

Kaskar, Sayad and Shaikh were arrested on September 18 on the charges of extortion after a complaint was filed by a builder at Kasarvadawli police station who was facing extortion threats since 2013.

Another complaint was registered at Thane Nagar police station after a jeweller complained of extortion.

Meanwhile, a transfer warrant has been issued and Kaskar will be produced on Wednesday at the Thane Magistrate court.

The police are on the process of booking Kaskar, Sayad and Shaikh under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime( MCOCA)Act.

Kaskar was deported to India from United Arab Emirates in 2003. He was wanted in a murder case and the Sara-Sahara illegal construction case, in which two malls were built on state-owned land reserved for a municipal school. However, he was acquitted in both the cases in 2007.

This is the third extortion case registered against Kaskar and his gang members after their arrest in connection with a probe into an extortion racket last month.