Court convicts Guru Satam’s son, nephew in extortion case
Mumbai A special MCOCA court convicted the son and nephew of gangster Guru Satam on Wednesday, in connection with an extortion case registered in 2014, based on a complaint lodged by a Dadar-based builder.
The special court on Wednesday convicted Satam’s son Bhushan and nephew Narhari, aka Pankaj, for being part of an organised crime syndicate and conspiring to extort from a builder in 2014. The court has also convicted their aide Puranshankar Mishra, for being part of the gang and the conspiracy.
After the three were found guilty, Satam’s lawyer Jayesh Vitlani pleaded for mercy as Bhushan was in prison since 2015. Vitlani also argued that he has an old mother to look after. “There was a threat to the life of the complainant and no weapons were used in the alleged crime as claimed by the prosecution,” Vitlani argued while pleading for mercy.
The court is likely to hear the defence lawyers on quantum of sentence on May 30 and pronounce its final verdict on May 31.
As per the prosecution, one employee of the builder (complainant) received a call on November 26, 2014. The caller introduced himself as an aide of gangster Guru Satam and demanded ransom. The next day, the employee informed his employer about the call, who then approached the anti-extortion cell (AEC).
The complainant claimed, on December 2, 2014, he again received a call from Satam who demanded ₹20 lakh from him. After the call, the AEC registered a case against Satam.
The AEC arrested Narhari three days after Satam’s call on December 5. The police also arrested Mishra in January 2015. Bhushan was arrested in February 2015.
During the trial, public prosecutor Jai Singh Desai examined 23 witnesses to bring home their guilt and claimed that Bhushan was part of the syndicate run by his father and also received pecuniary gain through extortion. Besides, the prosecution alleged that Bhushan was receiving extortion money through Mishra. They argued that the extortion call was made by Narhari and claimed that he was the one who went to take the cash which was in the form of dummy notes.
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