Nanded MLA’s driver who fled with ₹25-lakh cash arrested

According to the police, they are yet to recover the stolen booty. MLA Shyamsunder Shinde, who belongs to the Peasants and Workers Party of India and represents the Kandhar assembly constituency in Nanded district, owns a flat in Lodha Bellissimo, a high-rise in Lower Parel, where his driver and a relative resided

Mumbai: The driver of an MLA from Nanded was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stealing cash of ₹25 lakh from the leader’s Lower Parel residence and also threatening to defame him. Police officials said that the accused, identified as Chankradhar More, carried out the heist with the help of an aide who is still missing.

“After stealing the cash from Shinde’s house in Lower Parel, More had threatened to defame him by publishing adverse information that he had on social media and demanded ₹30 lakh more from him for not sharing the information with the public,” said an officer from NM Joshi Marg Police Station. (Image for representation)

According to the police, they are yet to recover the stolen booty. MLA Shyamsunder Shinde, who belongs to the Peasants and Workers Party of India and represents the Kandhar assembly constituency in Nanded district, owns a flat in Lodha Bellissimo, a high-rise in Lower Parel, where his driver and a relative resided.

“After stealing the cash from Shinde’s house in Lower Parel, More had threatened to defame him by publishing adverse information that he had on social media and demanded ₹30 lakh more from him for not sharing the information with the public,” said an officer from NM Joshi Marg Police Station.

More also threatened to harm himself if the MLA failed to pay him, he said, adding, “Several teams were formed to track him down using technical details, like his mobile phone location.”

“Based on the technical evidence and after inquiring with several people, the police arrested More from his hometown, a small village in the Nanded district. We are now trying to nab his associate and interrogating the driver to recover the stolen money,” the officer added.

Based on a complaint of Shinde’s personal assistant on May 26, More and his accomplice have been booked under sections 381 (theft by clerk or servant), 385 (putting a person in fear of injury to commit extortion) 387 (putting a person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion) 500 (defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

More was produced before a court in the city on Thursday and remanded in police custody till June 3.