BJP leader and former corporator of Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation has been arrested by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of Thane police, for allegedly demanding Rs two lakh from a builder, to let him construct an additional floor in a illegal structure.
Siddeshwar Kammurti was arrested from his residence in Bhiwandi after he demanded the sum from builder Kaimuddin Isamuddin Shaikh, for allowing him to construct a fourth floor in a three-storeyed building, AEC inspector D B Patil told PTI today.
After due deliberations it was decided that an amount of Rs 70,000 would be paid to the leader for protection of the unauthorised construction, Patil said.
Accordingly, a sum of Rs 20,000 was paid to the leader on March 2, and again another Rs 25,000 was paid on April 8.
However, Kammurti and his accomplice Gulam Ansari started pestering the builder for the balance amount and threatened him.
The annoyed builder lodged a complaint with the Anti Extortion Cell of Thane police which laid a trap at Kammurti's house on Wednesday and trapped him accepting Rs 25,000 cash from the builder.
Police also arrested Ansari and both were produced before the local magistrate who remanded them in police custody till April 23.
The duo has been charged under Section 384 of the IPC.
