Mumbai: 2 held for demanding Rs 50 lakh from scrap dealer as extortion

The Crime Branch Tuesday arrested a scrap dealer for allegedly getting back at his rival by giving his name to a gangster to make extortion calls.

Earlier, an accomplice of gangster Suresh Pujari was arrested for allegedly making the calls to an Andheri-based scrap dealer. An officer said Pujari demanded Rs 50 lakh from the dealer as safety money. The businessman contacted the anti-extortion cell of the Mumbai Police and it traced the call and arrested Ashraf Ali alias Ashok.

Ali told the police that he had been provided the number by Radhakrishna Tripathi. The police team interrogated Tripathi who said he had a fallout with the Andheri-based scrap dealer over a monetary dispute. Ali, who works for Pujari, was scouting for rich people tp whom he could make extortion calls.