Eight booked for extortion in Junagadh

Rajkot: Eight people were booked for extortion following a complaint lodged by a 38-year-old man running a plywood and hardware contracting business in Junagadh.The complainant, Naresh Koriya, borrowed Rs 53.8 lakh between 2021 and 2024 from the accused at various interest rates. He claims to have repaid Rs 76.34 lakh in total but is still being harassed for more money. Koriya further alleged that he received death threats from the accused when he refused to pay additional amounts.Detailing the transactions, Koriya told the police he borrowed Rs 33 lakh from Hiren Bhatt and repaid Rs 44 lakh, yet Bhatt is demanding an additional Rs 7 lakh. From Bharat Boricha, he borrowed Rs 8 lakh at 10% interest between 2022 and 2024, repaying Rs 12.94 lakh, but Boricha allegedly continues to press for more payments. Similarly, he borrowed Rs 19 lakh from Prakashgiri and his son and repaid Rs 31.21 lakh, yet they too are demanding more money.Koriya claimed that the loans were taken to fund the purchase of stock for his plywood shop in Talala, which eventually suffered losses and shut down. He has since moved to Junagadh city, where he now lives in a rented house for the past seven months.