RTI activist, lawyer booked for extortion

NAGPUR: The Futala illegal constructions case took a new turn with Sitabuldi police booking RTI activist Sanjay Agrawal and lawyer Shrikant Khandalkar for allegedly trying to extort money from Shailen Mehta, director of Sell Ads, the agency that manages Futala waterfront on behalf of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT).
Cops have registered a case under Section 385 (extortion) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Agrawal and Khandalkar mainly on basis of a CD submitted by Mehta that contains excerpts of communication between him and the two accused.
Agrawal has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Nagpur bench of Bombay high court against alleged violations of building norms on Futala waterfront. Khandalkar is his counsel. The HC has issued notices to NIT in this case.
As per the complaint Agrawal obtained information about the waterfront contract from NIT under Right to Information (RTI) Act. Khandalkar called up Mehta and his partner Pankaj Rai on June 2, 2013 and asked them to come to Agrawal's office in Dharampeth.
Mehta charged that Khandalkar told him that according to Agrawal, he (Mehta) was making a lot of money in Futala. Mehta claimed that he felt that the intentions of Khandalkar and Agrawal were not above the board and hence he started the recorder that he had brought with him.
While the recorder was on, Agrawal allegedly demanded Rs 30 lakh from Mehta else Agrawal would file a PIL against him. Agrawal allegedly told Mehta how he had made life difficult for many people and then left.
According to Mehta, Khandalkar then threatened him in similar manner but offered him another proposition. The lawyer said that Mehta should give one month's collections from Futala to him every year. He said that he would deal with Agrawal by taking his signature on some documents. Mehta alleged in the complaint that the two continued to threaten to ruin him through court.
The Futala controversy had come to light after some anti-social elements ransacked a food joint. Ambazari police booked Mehta in this regard and is investigating the complaints of fraud lodged by food joint owners against him. NIT was slated to conduct a hearing in this regard but HC admitted the PIL before that.