Ejaz Lakdawala may now be re-arrested in extortion case

Gangster Ejaz Lakdawala was produced in the Esplanade court on Tuesday and was sent to judicial custody till January 27, but the Mumbai crime branch approached the

Gangster Ejaz Lakdawala was produced in the Esplanade court on Tuesday and was sent to judicial custody till January 27, but the Mumbai crime branch approached the court immediately and took permission to arrest Lakdawala in another case of extortion and conspiring to murder a Jogeshwari-based businessman.

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“The court has given permission to arrest him. We will produce him in the court on Wednesday for police remand,” said deputy commissioner of police, crime branch, Shahji Umap.

In November 2016, Ejaz demanded ₹2 crore from a businessman in Jogeshwari. When he refused to pay, Lakdawala asked his associate Prashant Rao, who was in Nashik jail, to carry an attack on the businessman. Rao used to handle the gangster’s affairs in India when Lakdawala was in Nepal and also recruited henchmen for him to run his extortion business.

The anti-extortion cell (AEC) got a tip-off about the attack and deployed their officers in Jogeshwari. They then arrested Sagar Indulkar, Ankush Tayade and Sagar Chavan from SV Road when they came to kill the businessman. Police recovered a 7.65 mm bore pistol with live rounds from the accused. The trio was arrested under the charges of planning to commit murder, extortion, criminal conspiracy and under the Arms Act. Lakdawala was also shown as a wanted accused in the case, said an AEC official.

On January 20, AEC had registered a fresh FIR against Lakdawala for extorting money from a Byculla-based builder. Police said the builder had given a written application last year, which was verified after Lakdawala was arrested on January 8. Police then recorded the builder’s statement and an FIR was registered.