Couple arrested for extorting Radheshyam Mopalwar

The Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of Thane Police on Thursday arrested a private detective and his wife while accepting Rs 1 crore in 'extortion money' from former MSRDC chief Radheshyam Mopalwar.

The duo, Satish Mangle, a private detective, and his wife, Shraddha Mangle, a small-time Marathi actor, were held from their Dombivli residence.

According to police, the couple had threatened to defame Mopalwar using phone call recordings they had, and demanded Rs 7 crore for not doing so and for retracting their allegations of corruption against him.

In August this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis sacked Mopalwar as vice-chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), following the emergence of audio clips in which he was heard fixing a deal for a plot of land.

"Mangle was demanding the money for withdrawing complaint which he has filed against Mopalwar on the basis of an audio recording that was in news recently," said Thane police commissioner Parambir Singh,.

According to Thane police, the Mangles had initially asked for Rs 10 crore but came down to Rs 7 crore after a meeting with Mopalwar at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on October 31.

Mopalwar complained to the police after the meeting and handed over a video recording he had made of the meeting during which Mangle tried to blackmail him for Rs 7 crore. A case was subsequently registered in Kalwa police station on Thursday.