Police recover gold bars worth ₹2.60 crore from extortionist Hiren Bhagat

Mumbai crime branch recovers ₹2.60 crore worth of gold bars from extortionist Hiren Bhagat, who allegedly extorted ₹9 crore from a businessman.

The Mumbai crime branch has recovered four gold bars worth ₹2.60 crore from Khar resident Hiren Bhagat who was arrested recently for allegedly extorting around ₹9 crore from a 90-year-old businessman on the false promise of protecting his son from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case.

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The police also claimed that Bhagat opened four additional bank lockers in a cooperative bank’s Bandra branch in his employee’s name, apart from a few other lockers of his that are already under the scanner, which could have been used to stash valuables by him. Bhagat was produced in a magistrate’s court on Wednesday, which extended his police custody till February 26 based on several grounds submitted by the Mumbai crime branch: first, to recover expensive watches which Bhagat had allegedly extorted from the victim and secondly to search the four bank lockers. The crime branch also submitted that it needed to investigate from where Bhagat had bought the gold biscuits.

The businessman, who runs a travel firm, said in his complaint that he met Bhagat in 2020 when there was a money-laundering probe going on against his son. The ED’s case is based on an FIR by the police’s economic offences wing, which alleged that the travel firm had defaulted in repayment of loans to the tune of ₹3,642 crore borrowed from a bank. The complainant also alleged that Bhagat had threatened him at gunpoint and taken money from him between 2020 and 2022. The crime branch also wanted to probe from where he acquired the gun, added the officer.

Bhagat initially promised the complainant that he would help his son evade arrest and later get him released from jail in return for around ₹9 crore. When the ED arrested the businessman’s son, he asked Bhagat to return his money, at which point Bhagat allegedly threatened him, said a police officer. The complainant then approached the Bandra police, and a case of extortion and threat was registered against Bhagat on February 15. The probe was transferred to Unit 9 of the crime branch.

On January 31, Bhagat and five others had been arrested in connection with an alleged extortion bid of ₹164 crore from a city-based developer. Investigations by Unit 9 of the crime branch revealed that Bhagat had threatened the builder that he would get him booked in a money-laundering case. The police found cash and valuables worth ₹13.63 crore and three foreign pistols in Bhagat’s home.