| Builders arrested
Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar also booked for threatening complainant Two city-based property developers, who are also siblings, were arrested outside a local court yesterday in a case of cheating and extortion lodged by a developer, police said. “We have arrested Krishnamilan Shukla and Sandeep Shukla in connection with a forgery case, cheating and extortion filed by Avlani with us while Haseena Parkar has also been named as an accused in the case on Saturday,” a senior Anti-Extortion Cell official said here. There was a ruckus in the court premises after the duo tried to prevent the police from arresting them. According to the police, the Shuklas were allegedly in need of funds to start two lucrative slum redevelopment projects in Central Mumbai and approached Avlani who introduced them to Ravi Group builders. A meeting was held at Parkar’s residence in Nagpada with developers Chandresh Shah and Jayendra Shah being in attendance amongst others. Rs. one crore was paid to the Shuklas through demand drafts of which they encashed Rs. 30 lakh. According to the police, the Rs. one crore was inclusive of Rs. 30 lakh paid by Avlani as a middleman in the deal. The deal fell through due to some reasons and Avlani started demanding the Rs. 30 lakh advance paid to the Shuklas and filed a complaint with the police after they refused to pay back. Unit I of the Mumbai Crime Branch started investigating into the case of cheating. Krishnamilan Shukla then lodged a complaint regarding the same with the Anti-Corruption Bureau stating that the police officials were demanding money. The ACB arrested Chandresh Shah while allegedly accepting Rs. 1.5 lakh in cash as an installment for the Rs. 10 lakh “settlement amount” earlier this month and also seized the mobile phones of the Unit I officers. Shah was granted bail by a special court yesterday. Meawnhile, the case filed by Avlani was transfered to the Anti-Extortion Cell of the crime branch for an impartial investigation. According to Avlani, Parkar allegedly threatened to shoot him and asked him to forget the money (Rs. 30 lakh) paid by the Ravi Group, the AEC officer said. The official said “appropriate” action will be taken against Parkar after ascertaining her role in the case but maintained that she has not used the name of her brother (Dawood Ibrahim) to threaten Avlani. The crime branch officials have said that they are being “targeted” by the ACB for investigating into the deals of the underworld. |