2 women held for demanding ₹25L from Mumbai's Borivali restaurant over rat in dosa

The demand was later reduced to ₹7 lakh, with the owner allegedly paying ₹1 lakh before approaching the police.

The Borivali police on Tuesday arrested two women for allegedly trying to extort ₹25 lakh from a restaurant owner after a customer found a rat in a masala dosa.

The women allegedly returned to the Borivali restaurant to collect the remaining amount when police arrested them. (Representational)

The incident occurred on September 24 at Radhakrishna Hotel in Borivali West, when a customer found a dead rat in the dosa he had ordered. The customer recorded a video of the rodent in his food and also called the police.

Women allegedly pose as customer’s relatives

According to the police, two women who were at the restaurant at the time—Manasi Amit Acharya, 36, and Kinjal Subhash Bhatia, 29—later contacted the restaurant’s owner, Jai Kishore Shah, claiming to be relatives of the customer whose food the rat was found in. They allegedly threatened to file an FIR against the restaurant and demanded ₹25 lakh to avoid legal action.

Following negotiations, the extortion demand was reduced to ₹7 lakh, police said. Shah allegedly paid the women ₹1 lakh as an advance and told them he would pay the remaining amount later. He then approached the police and lodged a complaint against them.

Police arrest women while collecting remaining money

On Tuesday, when Acharya and Bhatia allegedly returned to collect the remaining ₹6 lakh, the police apprehended them. Based on Shah’s complaint, the women were booked for extortion under sections 308(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), police said.

“Further investigation into the matter is underway,” said Pushpalata Mandle, senior police inspector at Borivali police station.