Bengaluru Man Arrested For 2 Crore Extortion Attempt From Mumbai Builder

Mumbai police have arrested a 35-year-old man in Bengaluru for trying to extort Rs 2 crore from a builder, an official said on Friday.

The accused, identified as Mahesh Sanjeev Pujari, was apprehended in Karnataka by a team of Malad police on Wednesday and was brought to Mumbai on Thursday, he said.

"Pujari had called the builder through a mobile phone app in May 2021, which showed that the call was made from an international number. He demanded Rs 2 crore from the builder and threatened to kill him," the official said.

As the builder repeatedly received calls from the accused, he complained to the police and in December 2021, a case of extortion was registered, he said.

"As the accused was using a calling app to threaten, the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Mumbai police also began probing the case," he said.

The police took technical help of the cyber cell and found that the accused was in Bengaluru. Accordingly, a team of Malad police was sent to Bengaluru, where it apprehended Pujari, he said.

"The accused has been arrested. Although he does not do any job, he is technically sound and has knowledge of computers," said Dhananjay Ligade, senior inspector of Malad police station.

Pujari was produced before a court, which remanded him till January 17, he said.