News18: Thane:
Sunday, October 28, 2018.
In
two separate cases in the city, three men claiming to be RTI activists were
arrested on
Saturday for allegedly extorting money from builders, police said.
A
senior police officer said a "well-organised racket" has been in
operation in Thane since the last few years, and filing of RTI queries in order
to extort money from builders has become their business.
The
three accused, including a former NCP corporator of Thane Municipal Corporation
(TMC) who is presently a BJP worker, were arrested by the Anti Extortion Cell
(AEC) of Thane police.
Talking
to reporters here, Thane AEC chief senior inspector Pradeep Sharma said,
"Two affected builders came forward and lodged complaints separately at
Kasarwadavali and Mumbra police stations against six persons, including the
three arrested."
In
the first case, former NCP corporator Sudhir Barge was held for allegedly
extorting Rs 5 lakh from a prominent builder and demanding another Rs 45 lakh
from him, police said.
As
per the complaint, Barge came to the company's site office in Thane saying he
was an RTI activist and alleged that the builder had carried out unauthorised
construction. He demanded Rs 50 lakh from to hush up the matter and threatened
that if money was not paid, he would complain.
"The
company said it paid Rs 5 lakh to Barge and did not report the matter to police
earlier fearing that he would file a false complaint against it," police
said.
Two
of Barge's associates were also booked in the case registered at Kasarwadavali
police station.
In
the second case, two men were arrested for allegedly extorting money from a
builder, who also carries out civil works for the civic body.
The
accused, Arif Iraqi Nawaz Mohammad Mustafa and Shoukat Mulani, allegedly
threatened to file Right to Information pleas with the TMC to harass and extort
money from this builder in Mumbra township here, police said.
According
to officials, the builder, in his complaint claimed that the accused demanded
Rs 5 lakh extortion on various occasions since August 2016 and he had also paid
the accused Rs 3 lakh once.
Talking
about the modus operandi of the accused in such cases, Sharma said, "It is
a well organised racket. Their business is to extort money from the builders
who come from Mumbai and carry out their work in Thane. Their code word is
'Welcome to Thane'."
"The
racket has been in operation since the last few years now. These people first
file an RTI query with the civic authorities and then threaten the victims of
dire consequences," he added.
"Filing
of RTI queries has become their business and each one of them has filed at
least 1,700-1,800 RTIs. They demand money and if it is not paid they file a PIL
in thecourt. Once there is a settlement, the PIL is withdrawn. Their demands
vary...they demand in crores and they settle for a lesser amount after
negotiations," Sharma said.
"Later,
they pass on the same information to other activists who also follow the same
procedure to extort money from builders. A well-organised syndicate operates in
this manner," he added.
The
officer said police were questioning many people in this connection.
"Police
will check all the RTIs filed by the members of the syndicate and also seek
report from the TMC as to which departments they filed the RTI queries. We will
carry out a thorough investigation into this racket," Sharma said.
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