Man held for extorting money from small traders

He was taken to the Thane Nagar police station, and then Chunabhatti police station where he has been remanded into custody till Tuesday.

A 42-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly targeting traders and extorting money from them. The accused, Rajaram Jaiswal, and his six accomplices stalled a tempo that was transporting food grains on November 11 at the Priyadarshini signal, Sion. Following this, they accused the tempo driver, Mohamed Shaikh, 25, of carrying stolen grains and threatened to inform the police. The accused demanded ₹10 lakh from Shaikh, who then enlisted the help of his friend Mahendra Rawal to arrange the money. Eventually, they let him go after extorting ₹2.5 lakh from him.

Seven men stalled a tempo allegedly transporting stolen grains and demanded ₹10 lakh from the driver (File pic for representation)

However, Jaiswal continued to contact Shaikh over the phone and demanded more money. After Shaikh registered a police complaint, investigations revealed that Jaiswal was wanted in other cases. “Jaiswal has extortion and other cases registered against him in Mankhurd, Deonar, Trombay, Thane, Talegaon, and Pune. He has targeted several small traders previously,” said Sunil Bhosale, senior police inspector, Chunabhatti police station.

Acting on a tip off, the police laid a trap at Talaopali in Thane where Jaiswal was nabbed. He was taken to the Thane Nagar police station, and then Chunabhatti police station where he has been remanded into custody till Tuesday. However, Jaiswal claims that he is a journalist and has been falsely accused. He threatened the police, alleging that he knew several top journalists.

According to Bhosale, several traders who were victims of Jaiswal’s extortion schemes have come froward after his arrest. The police are currently trying to track down his other accomplices who are still at large.