A Right to Information (RTI) activist has been arrested for allegedly extorting ₹25 lakh from a road contractor. The activist, identified as Dattatreya Gulabrao Phalke (46) of Dhankawdi, had threatened the victim that he would complain to the vigilance department if he did not give him ₹2 crore.
Phalke was arrested by the anti-extortion cell (AEC) while accepting Rs25 lakh from the complainant at Bharati Vidyapeeth area on Wednesday. The complainant is a contractor executing a road construction work in Jamkhed taluka of Ahmednagar district, according to the police.
As per the complaint, Phalke told the contractor that his construction firm is into illegal mining and he is evading requisite tax to the government.
The RTI activist sought ₹2 crore to evade government action. Later, he started issuing threats to the contractor.
Fed up with the harassment, the victim informed AEC police inspector Balaji Pandhare and filed a complaint. The police team laid a trap near Kadam Plaza building and caught the accused accepting a bribe amount of ₹25 lakh from the contractor. Later, an FIR under IPC was lodged at Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.