Times of India: Aurangabad: Saturday, December 02, 2017.
A self-proclaimed
RTI activist and a RTO agent were arrested by crime branch sleuths while
allegedly accepting Rs 1 lakh as ransom from a female clerk associated with the
Regional transport office (RTO), on Thursday.
According to
the police, the duo were demanding money from the employee for suppressing
certain alleged objectionable information they had obtained against her under
RTI.
The accused
have been identified as Vinod Fulchand Gangwal (57, Waluj) and Arun Dagdu
Madukar (54, Jalannagar).
The female
employee was appointed as clerk in her father's stead, on compassionate
grounds. Gangwal is working as an RTO agent, while Madukar is a self-proclaimed
RTI activist and runs a stationery shop.
Both
contacted the employee around three months ago and told her that they have
obtained certain information about her through RTI Act. They claimed the
information could prove detrimental to her. The duo demanded Rs 2 lakh to
supress the facts, police said.
Police said,
Gangwal and Madukar constantly tried to blackmail the employee by saying they
would lodge a complaint against her if she does not pay up.
The duo asked
her to pay the amount in two equal instalments. The RTO employee contacted city
police chief and lodged a formal complaint against the blackmailers.
The complaint
was referred to crime branch sleuths, who laid a trap in in the chamber of
assistant RTO Shrikrishna Nakhate.
The employee
was asked to pretend to pay Rs one lakh. Police pounced on the duo no sooner
did they accept the money from the clerk.
Police
inspector Shivaji Kamble and assistant police inspector Ghanshyam Sonwane were
part of the team that nabbed the blackmailers.
Vedantnagar
police were busy registering a case against the accused till the time this
story was going to print. Senior RTO officials were not available for comment.
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