4th accused held in extortion case

Malabar Hill police arrested a 23-year-old man, Parth Ram Motiramani, on Thursday for allegedly conspiring with three others to plant drugs at a film producer’s

Malabar Hill police arrested a 23-year-old man, Parth Ram Motiramani, on Thursday for allegedly conspiring with three others to plant drugs at a film producer’s house and then extort ₹5 lakh from him in June. The police had arrested the other three accused in September.

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According to the police, Motiramani and Jatin Karmaveer Shel, 24, another accused, were friends with the victim, Varun Mohata, 34. On June 8, Motiramani and Shel had gone to Mohata’s house at 9.30pm. “Soon, the other two accused — Jafar Shaikh, 40, and Samir Shaikh, 44, — also reached the house, posing as police officers. They told Mohata that they have information about drugs in his house and started to search the place. They planted cannabis oil distillate in a cupboard and threatened Mohata that they will register a case against him if he did not give them ₹5 lakh,” said Tukaram Dighe, assistant inspector, Malabar Hill police station.

Mohata had ₹50,000 in cash and withdrew ₹20,000 from an ATM. He borrowed ₹1 lakh from Parth and Shel and gave Jafar and Samir ₹1.70 lakh. “After the four left Mohata’s house, Jafar and Samir called Mohata, threatening him from informing anyone about the incident. Shel and Parth, who were acting scared, also asked Mohata to not inform anyone about the incident,” said Dighe.

Mohata sensed something amiss and approached Malabar Hill police station. On inquiring about the ‘police officers’ who visited his house, Mohata realised that he had been cheated. The police then registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The police arrested Samir in the first week of September and Jafar and Shel were held on September 28. Parth was arrested on November 21. He was produced in court on Sunday and has been remanded in police custody till November 26. “During our probe, we found Parth had got the cannabis oil distillate. We are checking where he got the drug from. We also found that Parth was the brains behind the crime. We are checking if he has a criminal record,” said a police officer.