Two persons from Pune pose as RTI activists to extort ₹10 lakh from builder, nabbed

Police arrested the duo, who were demanding ₹10 lakh from builder citing alleged irregularities in his proposed project, the information they procured through RTI

Shivajinagar police have arrested two persons posing to be right to information activists and allegedly demanding ₹10 lakh from a real estate developer on Sunday. Police arrested the duo, who were demanding Rs10 lakh from builder citing alleged irregularities in his proposed project, the information they procured through RTI, said officials.

The accused identified as Ashutosh Arun Gholap (45), a resident of Bhuyar colony, Kothrud and Ramchandra Dnyanoba Phuge (65), a resident of Shani Mandir in Yerawada were caught red handed by the Shivajinagar police. (HT/PHOTO)

The accused identified as Ashutosh Arun Gholap (45), a resident of Bhuyar colony, Kothrud and Ramchandra Dnyanoba Phuge (65), a resident of Shani Mandir in Yerawada were caught red handed by the Shivajinagar police while they were accepting Rs10 lakh extortion money at Hotel Gandharva. Prashant Ajit Agarwal (31), the builder filed a case of extortion against the duo under Section 384, Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Shivajinagar police station. Phuge has puncture kiosk unit while Gholap masqueraded as a supervisor engineer.

According to the police, the duo had obtained details on building permission and plan from the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) regarding Agarwal’s Vardhaman associates building, under right to information (RTI) Act. The duo approached Agarwal stating the building plan was violating certain sections and that they had informed PMC regarding the same.The duo proposed withdrawing the complaint on condition that Agarwal pay them ₹20 lakh. After negotiating with the duo, Agarwal agred on paying them Rs10 lakh in exchange of withdrawing their complaint, meanwhile keeping the police in the loop about the same it in the form of a formal complaint. Agarwal then took the said cash lured the duo into the lair while the police team awaited their arrival, and caught them in the act.

“The duo are involved in many cases of extortion, trapping small time builders. These two would file RTI’s and look for loopholes in the information obtained from the PMC and later exploit the information by blackmailing the victims. We urge citizens who have been victims to the traps of these two to come forward and lodge complaints against them,” said Appasaheb Waghmale, police inspector in charge of Shivajinagar police station.