Police informer booked in another case of extortion

The Mumbai Police on Tuesday booked informer Salim Penwala alias Salim Maharaj in a fresh case for allegedly threatening and extorting money from an Andheri-based

The Mumbai Police on Tuesday booked informer Salim Penwala alias Salim Maharaj in a fresh case for allegedly threatening and extorting money from an Andheri-based hotelier in April 2019. The complainant alleged that Penwala took ₹2 lakh from him, said a crime branch officer.

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Santosh Rastogi, the joint commissioner of police, crime branch, said, “An FIR was registered in Oshiwara police station on Tuesday and the case has been transferred to crime branch unit 1 for inquiry.”

The complainant used to run a hotel in Versova along with three partners. After a police informer complained to the police about an illegal hookah parlour being run in the hotel, police conducted a raid in the hotel and sealed it, added officer. The complainant and Penwala met later and latter assured him that he could help him and took ₹2 lakh from him, said the officer. Later, the victim got a threat call from Ejaz Lakdawala. “It is likely that Penwala forwarded the complainant’s number to Lakdawala,” said the officer.