2 held for making ransom calls to Juhu ex-employer

Two carpenters were arrested by the Juhu police for making extortion calls to one of their former employers, asking him to pay up Rs10 lakh.

Two carpenters were arrested by the Juhu police for making extortion calls to one of their former employers, asking him to pay up Rs10 lakh.

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According to the police, the accused, Naveen and Manoj Vishwakarma, called the complainant, a businessman and Juhu resident, on Friday morning from a landline number, claiming to be henchmen who had received a contract of Rs10 lakh to kill his wife and demanded the sum he did not want them to execute the killing. When the caller gave the complainant personal details about his family, he approached the police.

“The accused kept making extortion calls several times on Friday,” said Arun Bhagat, senior inspector of Juhu police station. They were traced to public phones between Santacruz and Khar. The police then asked the complainant to play along, and on Saturday, he agreed to meet them in Bandra (East).

Meanwhile, a team keeping an eye on public booths in Bandra (East) spotted the two near one and arrest them. They had worked at the complainant’s residence around four months ago.