Two Chhota Rajan men held for extortion

The Mumbai crime branch on Friday arrested two members of the Chhota Rajan gang for allegedly trying to extort money from a prominent builder who has projects underway in Navi Mumbai and Ghatkopar.

The Mumbai crime branch on Friday arrested two members of the Chhota Rajan gang for allegedly trying to extort money from a prominent builder who has projects underway in Navi Mumbai and Ghatkopar.

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The two accused - Sunil Utekar, 32, a known member of the Rajan gang and Rajesh Raparti, 39 - were arrested from Ghatkopar (East). Officials said Raparti previously use to work with the builder and hatched a plan with the Rajan gang to extort money.

According to Vinayak Vast, senior police inspector of Unit 7, the accused called up the builder on January 15 and identified himself as 'Vijay' - a henchman of gangster Chhota Rajan. The accused asked the builder to pay up Rs50 lakh if he wanted his project to be completed without fear. "The accused gave him two international mobile numbers which he claimed were of Rajan and asked him to call up the gangster," officials said.

The builder registered a case with the Pant Nagar police. The case was immediately transferred to the crime branch for further probe. Police tracked down the caller with the help of his mobile number, leading to the arrest of the two accused.