Man held for extorting Rs 1 lakh from hotelier; woman accomplice on the run

Thane, Jun 27 (PTI) Police have arrested a 37-year-old man for extorting Rs 1 lakh from a hotelier in Navi Mumbai by posing as a journalist, an official said on Thursday.

The police are on the lookout for a woman, who was also involved in the offence, he said.

As per the complaint filed by the victim, accused Sandeep Raskar, who is a resident of Pune, and the woman initially demanded Rs 2 lakh for allowing him to operate an orchestra bar, threatening that he would be implicated in a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police official said.

Later, the accused agreed to bring down the amount to Rs 1 lakh and the woman accepted Rs 25,000 from the victim. On Wednesday, when the other accused was accepting Rs 75,000, the police nabbed him, an official said.

Based on a complaint, a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 384 (extortion) and others was registered in this connection, he said.

Raskar was earlier booked under extortion charges by the Pune police along with two others in January 2024, the police said. PTI COR NP