Mumbai: Trio held for threat over donation to Ganpati Mandal

Unsaullah Chaudhary the complainant

The Sakinaka police on Sunday arrested three men for threatening and manhandling a 54-year-old plastic scrap dealer, after he refused to donate Rs 25,000 to a Ganesh Mandal. The arrested accused are members of the Khairani Cha Samrat - Shree Gajanan Mitra Mandal at Sakinaka.

The complainant, Unsaullah Chaudhary is a resident of Sakinaka. According to the police, on September 4, the accused Pradip Pandey, Krushna Gupta, and Abbas Shaikh met Chaudhary at 9 pm near the Sakinaka police station, and demanded a donation of R25,000 for the Khairani Cha Samrat Ganesh idol.

Speaking to mid-day, Chaudhary said, "I refused because it is a substantial amount. Later, they started threatening me daily. A few days ago, they left a pavti (receipt) with the name of Khairani Cha Samrat - Shree Gajanan Mitra Mandal, mentioning the amount R5,000. I asked them to come to my shop to collect the money. But they did not show up."

"On September 9, around 10:45 pm, I was at a local shop when the three of them, accompanied by two-three others, confronted me once again. They threatened me to donate Rs 25,000 to the Ganpati Mandal. I refused. The trio then threatened to kill me and manhandled me. I rushed to the Sakinaka police station and filed a First Information Report (FIR)," Chaudhary explained.

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Senior Inspector Gabaji Chimte of Sakinaka police station said, "We have arrested three accused for threatening Chaudhary to donate to the Ganpati Mandal. We are investigating the matter."