The five other alleged Rajan aides, including a lawyer, were caught while receiving a partial payment of Rs 7 lakh from Walia.
Five aides of gangster Chhota Rajan have been held in Mumbai for threatening builder Ravindra Walia and a woman with an extortion bid of Rs 10 crore. According to anti-extortion cell, Ganesh Sarodia alias Danny, 64, who had been a long-time confidant of Rajan and history-sheeter, had allegedly hatched the extortion plan along with Advocate Pradeep Yadav, 40, and three real estate agents- Manish Bhardwaj, 44, Remi Fernandes, 58, and Shashikumar Yadav, 46. These five are in custody.
Paulson was supposedly entrusted to follow up the demand after Rajan sharpshooter Satish Kalia who was also absconding. Walia and his woman friend were worried he would be harassed by the accused. So, Walia first paid Rs 7 lakh out of Rs 9 crore. But, the accused being made aware that sales have happened, increased the pressure. To scare Walia for his surrender, the accused was said to have gone, storming into the woman friend Bandstand bungalow. Even the security guard guarding the bungalow was threatened by Yadav at gun point. To which the victims came in front of the police.
On 29 October, a trap was laid by the cell anti extortion led by inspectors Sudhir Jadhav and Arun Thorat and assistant inspector Jalinder Lembhe. The suspects came to collect the money and were caught on the spot. Sarodia allegedly abused Walia and threatened harm to both him and the woman after discovering only Rs 7 lakh in cash.
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Five Suspects Are In Police Custody
All five arrested suspects were produced in court and sent to police custody. Defense counsel argued against the detention saying that the arrests are illegal as there was no prior arrest notice.
FIR Against Gangster Chhota Rajan’s Sharpshooter Satish Kalia
An FIR has been filed against sharpshooter Rohit Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalia, serving a life term for the 2011 murder of journalist J Dey, for allegedly trying to extort Rs 10cr while out on parole from builder Ravindra Walia after he purchased a bungalow in Bandra West around six months ago.
City crime branch will now ask for the custody of Kalia, who had gone back to jail as his parole ended. Police suspect the role of another alleged Rajan man, Joseph Paulson, who had earlier been cleared in Dey’s case.
Walia had bought a dilapidated bungalow on Mount Mary Road from a woman and appointed agents to find buyers. The property is believed to be under dispute. Once the sale process began, the suspects allegedly started calling the woman and Walia’s broker, demanding Rs 10 crore as protection money and issuing threats through WhatsApp messages. Kalia, on parole then, allegedly even inspected the property and made the extortion demand.
