Palghar: Fresh extortion cases filed against local NCP, Sena leaders
Palghar police on Saturday registered four more cases of extortion against local leaders of the Shiv Sena and NCP for allegedly extorting money from builders. While three cases were registered by Vasai police, one by Valiv police station. Police have so far booked ten accused in the case. Nine persons, including Vasai-Virar NCP chief Govind Gunjalkar, have been arrested in connection with the cases
VVMC corporator, Shiv Sena's former deputy district chief is untraceable
Meanwhile, Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) corporator Dhananjay Gawde, former deputy district chief of the Shiv Sena, is untraceable. According to a police officer, Gawde allegedly made a fresh demand for extortion while he was on the run. "The fresh offenses of extortion have been registered against Gunjalkar, Gawde and other accused," according to an official release. Gawde figured in all the four FIRs.
Police have also booked BJP Yuva Morcha district chief
Police have also booked BJP Yuva Morcha district chief Arun Singh and have launched a hunt to trace him. "The ten accused, including two women, have been booked under sections 384 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC besides under provisions of the Arms Act," said Palghar (Rural) SP Manjunath Singe and Additional SP Raj Tilak Roshan in a press conference in Vasai.
The case at Virar police station against Gawde and others
In the case at Virar police station, Gawde and some others are accused of extorting Rs. 36 lakh from a builder since October 2016 after threatening to complain against his constructions and have them demolished for alleged irregularities.
Builders were threatened and lakhs of money extorted from them
In the Nalla Sopara case, another builder has alleged that the accused, through Gunjalkar, extorted Rs. 5 lakh from him, threatening to initiate action against him by the civic body and publish slanderous articles against him in newspapers. In a case at Tulinj in Vasai, a builder has accused Gawde of demanding Rs. 50 lakh for withdrawing a petition filed against his construction projects.
Accused forced builder to pay money at gunpoint
The builder alleged that he was called to a hotel, and the accused forced him to part with Rs. 32 lakh at gunpoint, and supply steel and cement worth Rs. 10 lakh for construction of a farmhouse at Shirsad Phata. In another case, Gawde and others are accused of extorting Rs. 30 lakh from a builder after threatening to have his buildings demolished.
