Rs 2 crore extortion: Crime branch custody for Ejaz Lakdawala

MUMBAI: The city crime branch on Monday took custody of gangster Ejaz Lakdawala in connection with allegedly threatening a hotelier and making an extortion demand of Rs 2 crore. Police suspect alleged conman Mohammed Fasi who used to work for the complainant hotelier, Ali Raza Aabdi, of passing on the latter’s numbers and other details to the gangster.
Mumbai police’s anti-extortion cell took Lakdawala’s custody from Taloja jail.
Lakhdawala had been lodged in Taloja jail ever since he was arrested in Patna last year and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Aabdi, owner of Sheesha Sky Lounge, complained that he received threatening calls from the gangster from international numbers in 2013 and 2018, demanding Rs 2 crore to run his business smoothly. Police took Lakdawala’s custody and interrogated him. During the course of interrogation, the gangster reportedly admitted to having threatened Ali Aabdi for extortion.