Man tries to extort money from builder for second time, held

A former football player and coach from the city was arrested by Pune police in a case of extortion of a city builder for the second time on Thursday.

According to the police, the complainant has been identified as builder Mahesh Bhadrawati (49), while the accused has been identified as Ambaji Kalyani Shinge (21), a resident of Hingane Mala in Hadapsar.

He was remanded to custody till Thursday by a local court, according to the police.

On Wednesday morning, Shinge arrived on a motorbike with another unidentified person and accosted the complainant and asked for Rs 5-10 lakh extortion money.

“Earlier, in August, he had demanded Rs 35 lakh extortion money from the same builder. The builder had lodged a complaint against him then and Shinge was arrested earlier as well. Now he asked him to settle for less,” said an official close to the investigation.

The intent behind demanding extortion money is not clear. Shinge said he is not working on anybody’s behalf, said police.

A case under Sections 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion), 504 (insult with an intention of provoking breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) is registered against Shinge at Wanowrie police station.

Assistant police inspector Jayant Jadhav of Wanowrie police station is investigating the case.