Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch’s Anti-Extortion Cell has arrested a 31-year-old woman and a 27-year-old advocate in connection with an alleged extortion racket in which the accused reportedly threatened to implicate a businessman in a false criminal case and demanded crores of rupees to withdraw the case.
Two arrested in extortion case
The arrested accused have been identified as Nivedita Apul Sharma, 31, a resident of Kalkaji, New Delhi, and Rahityraj Rajivkumar Mishra, 27, an advocate from Janakpuri Extension, New Delhi. Sharma was arrested on August 14, while Mishra was arrested on August 15.
According to police sources, the case originated from a complaint filed by a 32-year-old real estate agent from Gujarat. The complainant alleged that his brother-in-law, Nilay Jashbhai Patel, who runs an IT company involved in money-transfer services, was being threatened by Sharma.
Police sources said Sharma and Patel knew each other and had travelled together to different cities and stayed at hotels on several occasions. According to the complaint, Sharma had allegedly been seeking ₹4-5 crore from Patel to start a new business.
Alleged demand for money
On July 23, Sharma allegedly lodged a criminal case against Patel at Mumbai Airport Police Station. The complainant subsequently asked Patel’s friend, Lalit Kolhe, to find out what had led to the case. During conversations with Sharma, Kolhe allegedly learnt that she was demanding ₹4 crore in exchange for withdrawing the case. Police said that during a subsequent conversation, the demand was negotiated down to ₹2 crore and later increased to ₹2.5 crore.
Investigators said several conversations between Sharma and Kolhe were recorded. On July 29, Kolhe allegedly met Sharma at a hotel in Santacruz, where she was accompanied by two men, one of whom was identified as Basit Khan. According to police, Sharma and the others again demanded ₹2.5 crore and allegedly threatened that Patel would remain in jail if the money was not paid.
Trap laid by police
On August 13, Sharma allegedly instructed Kolhe to pay ₹5 lakh as an advance to a person using a particular mobile number at a location in BKC. Police said the ₹5 lakh was subsequently handed over and Sharma confirmed receipt of the money. The complainant later informed the police that Sharma would arrive to collect the remaining extortion money on August 14. Acting on the information, the Anti-Extortion Cell laid a trap near Juhu and allegedly caught Sharma while she was accepting ₹45 lakh.
The police subsequently registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections relating to extortion, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. The investigation was later transferred to the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Crime Branch.
Digital evidence examined
During the investigation, police arrested Mishra after allegedly finding evidence that he had stayed with Sharma at a Juhu hotel and was involved in the alleged conspiracy. Police seized two mobile phones from Sharma, one mobile phone from Mishra, and a Baleno car. Around ₹45 lakh in cash was also recovered.
Investigators said they recovered recordings of conversations between the accused and witnesses from a pen drive and obtained voice samples of both accused for further analysis. Police also examined WhatsApp chats, voice calls and other digital evidence from their mobile phones.
Probe into wider network
According to investigators, the mobile phones contained conversations between Sharma, Mishra, Basit Khan and another person identified as Ramya, allegedly relating to the extortion operation. Police also claimed that deleted chats were found on Sharma’s phone and efforts were being made to recover the deleted data. The police further alleged that Sharma had previously threatened another person, identified as Ashish Chand, with filing a criminal case and had allegedly obtained ₹50 lakh from him. Documents submitted by Chand are being examined as part of the investigation.
Also Watch:
Basit Khan has been named as a wanted accused in the case. The Crime Branch is investigating the alleged role of other persons, including Ramya and a person identified as Pratik, whose mobile number was allegedly provided to Sharma for communication with the complainant.
Police suspect that the accused may be part of a larger organised network operating across different states and are probing whether similar cases were allegedly carried out by the group in the past. Investigators are seeking further custody to trace the person who allegedly received the ₹5 lakh advance, recover the money, analyse the seized digital devices, recover deleted data and identify other members of the alleged extortion network.
To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/
