One of the accused was trying to extort money from a restaurant owner by claiming there was a cockroach in his Frankie; however, this lie quickly turned against him and his accomplices
In a case of a delightfully foiled crime, a retired magistrate, his advocate son and a tours and travel agent have been booked for extortion, after one of them tried to extort money from a restaurant owner by alleging he had found a cockroach in the meal served by the owner’s staff.
ADVERTISEMENT
Also Read: Mumbai family threatened with extortion calls by 'Bhau from Dagdi Chawl'
The roach, which was earlier the bone of contention between the accused and the complainant, became the very thing that led cops to uncovering the trio’s extortion bid. Cops have arrested the tour operator while the father and son duo are still at large. According to the police officials, the arrested accused has been identified as Nikhil Roy, who is a travel agent. He was arrested from his Chembur residence on Wednesday.
Roach in my Frankie
An officer from Parksite police station said, “On January 16, Roy had gone to R City Mall in Ghatkopar with his daughter and wife. He had ordered a Frankie and a Chinese dish from the complainant Mukesh Agarwal’s food stall, Cafe Bollywood. After this, Roy claimed that he got a cockroach in the Frankie. He complained to the owner about the same.” Later, as Roy started raising his voice in the food stall, Mukesh gave it in writing that if anything happens to his daughter, his staff would be responsible.
Read Story: Filmmakers accuse each other of threats, extortion over unfinished film
Speaking to mid-day, Mukesh said, “We mash the ingredients of Frankie, so even the cockroach would have been mashed. But, it was whole, so I believe he had got it from outside. They would have hatched this plan to extort money. However, on humanitarian grounds, we gave it in writing [that the food was safe to eat]. The next day, my manager Dalvi even called up Roy to ask about his daughter’s well being.”
However, things quickly turned against Dalvi during the course of the conversation as Roy asked Dalvi to speak to his lawyer Rahul Agarwal, who is also the co-accused in the case.
The officer said, “Rahul then demanded Rs 2.5 lakh from Dalvi to not register any complaint. The manager claimed he would have to contact the owner for money.”
Negotiations commence
“The stall owner Mukesh called Roy on January 19. Rahul spoke on his behalf and demanded Rs 5 lakh instead. However, as the owner negotiated, the duo agreed on Rs 1 lakh and was deciding on a place to receive the money. Roy had claimed that Rahul’s father — who is a retired magistrate from Bandra court — also spoke to Dalvi during the conversation. We have registered case against him as well, and further investigations are on,” added the officer. The cops suspect the trio could have been running an extortion racket.
Since the duo did not zero in on a location for a long time, Mukesh got fed up by the situation and approached the Parksite police and registered a case. After this, Roy was arrested on Wednesday and booked under sections 385 (Putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. He was produced in Vikhroli court yesterday and remanded to police custody.
Cops say
Senior police inspector Rajendra Kulkarni from Parksite police station confirmed the news and claimed that their investigation is in progress and are trying to locate the two absconders.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
