MUMBAI: Two men who tried to extort Rs 10 lakh from a businessman by snagging him in a false rape case on Wednesday have been arrested. Irfan Shaikh, 28, and his aide Parag Bhui, 30, came up with the devious plan to overcome a financial crisis in business.
Shaikh was the client of a 48-year-old Kandivli businessman and hatched the plan to target him after the man invited Shaikh to watch an IPL match and have dinner in a five-star hotel room with him in Sahar on May 18.
“Shaikh went with a woman, Pooja. After dinner, Shaikh, on the pretext of attending a call, left the room around 10.30pm. As planned, Pooja tried to get close to the businessman, who tried to maintain distance. At his point, Shaikh and Bhui barged in, assaulted the businessman claiming he had tried to rape the woman and demanded Rs 10 lakh if he did not want to be booked,” said a police officer at the Sahar police station.
There were two other accomplices of Shaikh in the room and all of them took the businessman to Kandivli for a settlement. There an argument ensued and they were spotted so late at night by a police patrol car. When the cops intervened, the businessman told his story about how they were threatening to implicate him in a rape case if he did not pay up. They were first taken to Samata Nagar police station and later a case was filed with the Sahar police.
A police officer said they have arrested the duo for extortion and under other IPC sections. Search is on for the woman and the other two men.
