Mumbai: A man has been arrested for allegedly extorting Rs45 lakh from a south Mumbai-based businessman, who had bought a building near Vitthalwadi and subsequently undertook its repairing work. The suspect was identified as Gaurang Zaveri.
In his complaint lodged at the Lokmanya Tilak Marg police station, the 52-year-old said that despite giving Rs35 lakh, Zaveri continued to ask for money and even gave him death threats. He further accused that the modus operandi of the suspect is to collect information about ongoing structural works via the Right to Information (RTI) Act and then file complaints with civic authorities to get the project stalled.
Zaveri had filed a complaint against the project with the BMC and BEST
In a similar manner, Zaveri met the businessman's manager and asked the latter for a meeting. When the complainant met him, the suspect demanded Rs45 lakh for not filing a complaint against the Vitthalwadi project. As the Covid had stalled the works resulting in a loss of Rs1.5 crore, the businessman tried to settle the matter and paid Rs35 lakh to Zaveri on September 29 last year, read the complaint.
Later, the complainant came to know that Zaveri had filed a complaint against the project with the BMC and BEST. Subsequently, he demanded Rs15 lakh more. Fed up with constant harassment, the businessman approached the police and a case was filed. It was later transferred to the Anti-Extortion Cell.
