Mumbai: ‘BMW chaiwala’ held for extortion

Baba Khan, who would allegedly extort money from vendors near Atharva College at Charkop Naka in Malad; (Left) the BMW that the accused drove around in

A cafe owner, who allegedly ran various illegal businesses, was arrested on Saturday on charges of extortion by the Malwani police. According to police sources, the accused, Baba Khan, used to arrive around in a BMW to collect weekly bribes from hawkers and pavement vendors near his establishment.

If a person refused to pay up, Khan's henchmen would beat them up and threaten to shoot them in the head. He would allegedly forcibly take money from people's pockets and if he visited shops or stalls, he would physically remove money from their cash boxes. Paralysed by fear, no one had complained until now.

Baba Khan's cafe is located behind a bus stop on which the establishment is illegally advertised

When the complainant, Akram Shah, who owns a furniture shop near Khan's café at the Malwani-Charkop junction, grew tired of making payments and refused to comply, Khan and his henchmen allegedly kidnapped him in his BMW and took him to a flat in Malwani. There, they beat him up, forcibly took money from his pockets, threatened him and then released him.

A police officer said, "Khan would extort money from shopkeepers, stall owners and furniture vendors on the footpath near Atharva College at Charkop Naka in Malad by threatening them. If they didn't pay up, he would report them to the BMC and the collector, resulting in the closure of their businesses."

Baba Khan, who would allegedly extort money from vendors near Atharva College at Malwani in Malad

Shah told mid-day, "Over the past two to three years, Khan extorted more than Rs 5 lakh from me, which I paid in cash and through Google Pay transfers to the accused and his wife's number. On July 9, he came to my shop with some friends and started abusing me for not paying up. He took me against my will in his BMW to a Mhada flat in Malwani, where they beat me, took about Rs 7,000 from my pocket and threatened me before letting me go. After discussing the incident with my family, I was encouraged to file a complaint at the police station. There were five to six other people whom Baba Khan would harass apart from me."

According to the sources, Khan has been illegally advertising his café on a bus stand and operating it without paying rent. Senior Inspector Chimaji Aadhav of the Malwani police station said, "We had heard from many people about Khan's illegal activities, but no one was coming forward to complain. As soon as we received the complaint, we swung into action and arrested him after registering a case under the relevant sections. He is now in police custody. We request anyone harassed by Khan or his associates to come forward."