30 June,2024 10:27 AM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
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Police have registered a case against a local thug and three of his associates for allegedly threatening a 25-year-old businessman and attempting to extort money from him in Thane district, Maharashtra, an official said on Sunday.
The thug contacted the businessman, who works in fabrication, at his workplace in the Kalwa region, seeking Rs 50,000 per month as "protection money", according to a Kalwa police officer.
To scare the victims, the accused claimed he had recently been released from jail for a criminal matter and was well-known even among children in the Kalwa neighbourhood, according to the FIR.
On June 27, the accused and his companions contacted the victim again at a political party office in Kalwa, repeating their demands and threatening him with serious repercussions if he did not cooperate.
The victim reported the incident to the police, who filed an FIR against the four individuals on Friday under Indian Penal Code sections 385 (putting a person in fear of injury to commit extortion), 387 (putting a person in fear of death or grievous harm to commit extortion), and 34 (acts done by several people in furtherance of a common intention).
The police have launched an investigation into the case.
In another incident, police in Maharashtra's Thane district have filed a formal complaint against two persons for allegedly scamming four people out of nearly Rs 39 lakh by offering them positions in the state secretariat, according to an official.
According to a Kolsewadi police station official, one of the victims is a physically challenged woman who has a copying and typing store in Kalyan town. She said that one of the accused came by her shop a lot and promised to assist her get a position in the Mantralaya (secretariat).
With the promise of getting them secretarial jobs, the guy and his accomplice are accused of taking from her and three other people a total of Rs 39,71,800 since August 2021. However, the accused responded evasively when the victims asked about the accused's employment position. When the injured parties requested their money back, the accused issued cheques that subsequently bounced, the official said.
With PTI inputs
