A 26-year-old man, who tried to extort money from a metal trader by sending threats on Whatsapp, was today arrested by the city police.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Sheikh alias Shekhu alia Sheru, is a resident of Mumbra in Thane district and is a son of a scrap dealer from Kurla here, police said.
"Sheikh had known the victim, who deals in metal items, from the past few years, as the latter used to sell and purchase the scrap from the father of the accused," said police.
According to police, Sheikh first sent a photo of Iqbal Kaskar, brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, on the victim's mobile through Whatsapp along with a threat message demanding money from him.
"The accused then sent one more message with photographs of the victim's children, in which he issued a threat message that if he doesn't pay money then his children would be killed," said police.
Following the complaint, police launched an probe into the case and found that it was Sheikh who had sent the threat message to the victim. He was traced and arrested by police.
"He tried to extort as he was in urgent need of money and was jobless," DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said.
Meanwhile, police are on the lookout for a friend of Sheikh in connection with the case.
