Agarwaltimes - Businesman foils RPI worker’s extortion bid

Worker claims chikki factory unit owner's products are defective, tries to wangle Rs 2 lakh out of him, arrested.

It was quite a clever extortion bid. Tell the businessman his product is flawed and demand money to hush up the matter and you are sure to get the moolah out of the man. Or so he thought.

A Republican Party of India (RPI) worker, along with his cronies, approached 33-year-old Dhiraj Khandelwal, a small-time businessman who runs a chikki production unit in the Parvati area, saying that his product is 'virus' infected and would cause mental damage in kids if consumed. He offered to overlook the matter, of course, in lieu of Rs 2 lakh. But Khandelwal called his bluff and the cops, too.

Assistant police inspector Vishnu Kesarkar said the suspect, Umakant Waghmare, who claims to be the vicepresident of RPI, was arrested by the Dattawadi police under the relevant sections of IPC on Thursday morning. While talking to Mirror, Khandelwal said two men came to his unit and started shooting with their camera on Wednesday evening. When asked why, they said their boss would be coming to inspect the premises soon. "Since it was 7.30 pm, I pulled the shutters down. However, one of the men told me to keep the unit open as his boss wanted to see it. But I did not pay heed to that," he added.

After some time, a man came in a black SUV and asked him to open the unit. When he refused, the man threatened to register the case with police and civic authorities. "As I was alone, I opened the main shutter and they again began filming my unit. When I asked who they were, the man told me they had received several complaints that my product is virus infected and may hamper the mental condition of children," said Khandelwal.

"I told him I'm a small businessman and won't be able to fulfil his demand, but he threatened a police case," said Khandelwal. He called his brother, Sushant Khandelwal, who then rushed to the local police. By the time Sushant came to the spot, Waghmare had called the police control room, saying that Khandelwal was using abusive language. "We then told Waghmare we will not pay the money and he can do whatever he wants. He then gave us his visiting card and left the place, saying he would return the next day to settle the issue," he added.

Khandelwal rued that despite providing CCTV footage of the man and his activities, the cops have registered a bailable offence against him. There are chances that he might have pulled the same trick with other small-time businessmen and traders and that police should investigate such cases. RPI president (city unit) Mahendra Kamble said Waghmare had recently joined the party and is vice-president of the Parvati area. "Now that an extortion case has been registered against him, we will take stringent action against him for tarnishing the image of the party," he added.

Agarwaltimes