Mumbai Police arrested a 27-year-old man in Mumbai for allegedly threatening to kill former deputy chief minister of Jharkhand over phone in a bid to extort Rs 15 lakh from him nearly five months ago.
Police arrested the accused, Nilesh Kamlesh Pande, resident of Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested on Tuesday from Bainganwadi area in Mumbai's Shivaji Nagar.
Pande had called former deputy CM of Jharkhand Sudesh Kumar Mahto on August 14 last year and demanded Rs 15 lakh from him. The accused had also threatened to shoot Mahto in his house if the money was not paid to him.
Mahto, who represents Silli Assembly constituency in Jharkhand, had approached the police and his personal assistant Mahendra Kumar Sharma had filed a complaint against the unidentified caller who is threatening Mahto.
An offence was registered under IPC sections 385, which says putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion and 387, which says putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt in order to commit extortion at Gonda Police Station in Ranchi in connection with the case and a probe was launched, he said.
"During the investigation, it came to light that the suspect stays in Mumbai's Shivajinagar area, an eastern suburb," a Police official informed.
The suspects' photo and a mobile number were passed on to the Mumbai Police from their Ranchi counterparts, the official added.
"Accordingly, the Unit-6 of the Mumbai crime branch laid a trap in the area for two days and finally arrested Pande on Tuesday," the official said.
After the arrest, he was produced before a local court, which sent him to transit remand till January 11. According to the official, Pande has been handed over to a team of Jharkhand Police, which came to Mumbai to take him into custody.