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Amid the political row over the murder of a sarpanch, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday asked NCP workers in Beed district not to get involved in extortion attempts targeting development projects. Asking his party workers to maintain a "clean character", the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief said political interference will not be tolerated in the administration. His remarks come against the backdrop of the arrest of Walmik Karad, a close associate of state NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, in an extortion case linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district. The opposition has been demanding Munde's ouster in the wake of the arrest of his associate and to facilitate an impartial probe into the murder of Deshmukh. Pawar arrived in Beed on Thursday morning, his first visit since becoming the district guardian minister. Addressing a gathering of NCP workers, he said, "Maintain a clean character. Everybody should take care not to mingle with
In a fresh trouble for jailed journalist Mahesh Langa, the Gujarat police have registered a case against him for allegedly extorting Rs 40 lakh from a real estate agent by threatening to malign his image and implicate him in a false case, officials said. Langa is currently in jail in four previous cases registered by Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Rajkot police. "Now, an FIR under section 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that deals with extortion, was registered on January 23 by the Satellite police station in Ahmedabad city on a complaint by Janak Thakor, a real estate agent and a social worker," police inspector H C Zala said, adding that further action will be taken after investigation. This is the fifth First Information Report (FIR) that has been registered against Langa, who worked with a leading newspaper in Gujarat, after his arrest by the Ahmedabad police's crime branch in an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) scam in October last year. As per the latest FIR, the ...
Bihar Labour Resources Minister Santosh Kumar Singh on Tuesday alleged that he received death threats from a man who identified himself as gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The minister lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. The police formed a team to investigate the matter. "I received a call today on my mobile phone The caller identified himself as Lawrence Bishnoi. He demanded Rs 30 lakh. He called again after some time....reminding me of Baba Siddiqui and threatened to kill me in the same way if I didn't pay the money, the minister told reporters. The caller also told the minister how to send the money. "I immediately informed the DGP and also lodged a complaint with the police. I have no cases against me and no political enemies. Police are investigating the matter, the minister said. Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police Avkash Kumar said, A case has been registered at Kotwali Police station in this regard and the matter is being investigated. A special investigatio
A series of bomb threats to the city's schools, hospitals and airport, two mysterious explosions, and a surge in extortion calls targeting businesspersons put the Delhi Police through the wringer in 2024. Gang rivalry also reared its ugly head as criminal factions clashed with each other throughout the year, resulting in several targeted killings with former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal labelling Delhi the country's "gangster capital". The bomb threat emails targeting various installations, including schools, hospitals, and airline companies, began in May of this year. In December alone, more than 100 schools received bomb threats from unknown senders, who have yet to be identified, with all of them being declared hoaxes. According to a police officer, the investigation into the bomb threat emails sent through virtual private networks has been a major "challenge" for the force. He said the probe in the cases was still on and expressed hope that the culprits would be caught ...
The CBIC on Friday said it has suspended some CGST officials in Bengaluru who have been arrested by the city police for alleged extortion charges. On September 11, Bengaluru City Crime Branch arrested four Central GST officials based on a complaint of kidnapping and extortion filed by a businessman at Byappanahalli police station of Bengaluru East division. The arrested include a superintendent rank officer apart from inspector and senior intelligence officer rank staffers of the GST. In a post on X, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said as per media reports, it has been reported that some CGST officials in Bengaluru have resorted to alleged extortion in violation of the laws of the land. "The officers involved have been immediately suspended," it said. It further said that the CBIC is in touch with police authorities who got the remand of these officers arrested by them. "Based on the outcome of the investigation in the matter, further action will be taken.
The Mumbai police have registered an FIR against fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel's alleged associate Riyaz Bhati on charges of threatening a witness from jail in an extortion case registered against him, an official said on Monday. Bhati is lodged at a jail in Mumbai in the extortion case in which Shakeel's brother-in-law Salim Fruit and five others are also accused. The Mumbai police had invoked provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case and all the accused are currently in judicial custody. As per the latest FIR registered against Bhati by Khar police here last week, a 43-year-old businessman alleged that a man named Rajesh Bajaj, whom he knew for the last 10 years, threatened him to give a statement in a court in favour of Bhati in a case lodged at Versova police station against him. Bajaj had also taken the businessman near Versova police station where Bhati met him and allegedly threatened him to give a statement in his favour,
The CBI has sought sanction from the Delhi LG to file a case against former Jail Minister Satyendar Jain for allegedly extorting crores of rupees from various "high profile prisoners", including alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, to enable them to live comfortably in prison, officials said. The CBI, while seeking mandatory sanction from Lieutenant General VK Saxena to proceed against Jain, has alleged that "a high level corruption and extortion racket" was being run in the jails of Delhi in connivance with then DG Prison Sandeep Goel and then Additional Inspector General of Prisons Mukesh Prasad along with associate officers, private persons and accomplices. "They worked as a syndicate for the same," the CBI alleged in its letter to Saxena. It said it has "source information" that Jain allegedly "extorted and received Rs 10 crore from jail inmate Chandrashekar in various tranches during 2018-21 either himself or through his accomplices, as protection money," to enable the alleged
The Bombay High Court on Thursday extended till June 23 the interim protection from arrest granted to NCB's former Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede in the CBI's case of extortion and bribery against him. The CBI's case is that Wankhede and four other accused had demanded Rs 25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not framing his son Aryan Khan following alleged seizure of drugs from a cruise ship in October 2021. A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and S G Dige said it would hear Wankhede's plea seeking to quash the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) FIR in the case on June 23. Wankhede's counsel Aabad Ponda told the HC that as per court's earlier direction, the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer appeared before the CBI for interrogation seven times and has been cooperating. CBI's advocate Kuldeep Patil told the court that the investigation in the case was at a crucial stage. The bench said it would hear Wankhede's plea on June 23. "Interim relief granted st
The Gujarat police have arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Yuvrajsinh Jadeja in Bhavnagar city of the state for allegedly extorting Rs 1 crore from two persons, one of whom is accused of being the mastermind of the dummy candidates racket that was exposed recently, an official said. AAP's youth wing leader Jadeja was arrested on Friday night after a marathon questioning by the police that lasted for hours, he said. Jadeja is credited for exposing the alleged dummy candidates racket earlier this month. Inspector General of Police Bhavnagar range Gautam Parmar said Jadeja extorted Rs 45 lakh from Prakash Dave, the alleged mastermind of the case, and Rs 55 lakh from Pradeep Baraiya for not revealing their names in a press conference for their alleged involvement in the dummy candidates racket. Following Jadeja's arrest, the AAP as well as the Congress slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for targeting him for exposing question paper leak and dummy candidate cases in ...
Sukesh Chandrasekhar, the alleged conman accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from the wife of a prominent businessman, Monday moved a Delhi court accusing the judge hearing the case of bias and seeking its transfer to another judge. Chandrasekhar filed an application before Principal District & Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma. "Since the applicant/accused has alleged bias against the Presiding Officer/ ASJ let copy of the present transfer petition be sent to him elucidating his comments upon the same, which may be placed before this court for further consideration on April 17, 2023," the judge said. The Principal District and Sessions judge directed the jail authorities concerned to produce the accused through a video conference on the next date of hearing. In his application, the alleged conman claimed the reliefs being granted to the other accused in the case were not being extended to him and his wife. Chandrasekhar is accused of cheating and extorting Aditi Singh, the wife of ...
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Saurabh Tripathi in the angadiya (traditional couriers) extortion case. A single-judge bench of Justice Bharati Dangre noted that Tripathi had cooperated with the investigation and charge sheet in the case already filed by the police. Tripathi had approached the high court after a sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. The LT Marg police, in south Mumbai, on February 19 registered an FIR in connection with the extortion case, in which four policemen, including Tripathi, an IPS officer of the 2010 batch, were named as accused. An inspector, an assistant inspector and a sub-inspector attached to LT Marg police station were arrested in the case. They are out on bail now. A complaint filed last December by the Angadiya Association in south Mumbai alleged that Tripathi demanded Rs 10 lakh per month from them as a bribe to allow them to run their business ...
A special court here on Thursday sent an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and two others, including a businessman, to 14-day judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to alleged extortion of money from coal and mining transporters in Chhattisgarh. IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal and advocate Laxmikant Tiwari were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on October 13 following their questioning after the agency launched multi-city raids in the state on October 11. The accused were produced before the court of additional district and sessions judge Ajay Singh Rajput on Thursday on expiry of their ED custody, Tiwari's lawyer Faizal Rizvi said. He said the court sent them to 14-day judicial custody and they will be kept in jail. On October 13, the court had allowed custodial interrogation of the trio by the ED for eight days and on October 21 extended their remand for six more days. The trio was arrested under the Prevention of Money ...
Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday moved the Bombay High Court in connection with the Rs 100 crore extortion case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation case.This comes days after a special CBI court rejected Deshmukh's bail plea on October 21.The hearing on the NCP leader's bail plea will take place on November 11.Earlier, rejecting the bail application of Anil Deshmukh, the CBI court said that in this case, the statement of public witness Sachin Waze has been recorded by the CBI during the hearing of the bail application.He had been accused of asking policemen to collect Rs 100 crores illegally for him every month from bar owners in Mumbai."It is clear from the statements of the witnesses that Anil Deshmukh is the main conspirator in this whole case. The charges against him are very serious. In such a situation, if he is granted bail, he can influence the case and the witnesses," the CBI court said."Whatever medical facilities Anil Deshmukh needs is ...