Sena leader, 2 others held for extortion

A Shiv Sena leader and two of his party workers were arrested on Thursday for allegedly trying to extort Rs1,000 from a contractor, Manmad Qureshi, 48.

A Shiv Sena leader and two of his party workers were arrested on Thursday for allegedly trying to extort Rs1,000 from a contractor, Manmad Qureshi, 48.

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“Qureshi claimed that on Wednesday evening, Santosh Shinde, 35, a Sena shakha pramukh, Santosh Gharat, 39, and Vinod Mishra, 32, stopped him and demanded Rs 1,000. When he refused to pay, they allegedly beat him,” said inspector Shrikant Desai, of the LT Marg police station. Qureshi lodged a first information report against them an hour after the incident.

Shinde has reportedly confessed to having demanded the money. “Shinde claimed that he was collecting the money for party-related work after we arrested him,” said Desai.