Extortionist attacks shopkeeper with sword, four held

In a brazen attempt at extortion, a physically-challenged shopkeeper was attacked with a sword in suburban Chembur in Mumbai by an assailant, said to be part of a gang of drug addicts who go around and demand cash from shop owners by intimidating them.
The 36-year-old shop owner was saved by a customer present at the shop who managed to overpower the sword-wielding assailant, leading to the arrest of four persons, police said.
The assailant -- Akram Sheikh (28) -- barged into the shop of Rajnish Thakur at P L Lokhande Marg in Chembur on Tuesday evening and attacked him with a sword, Tilak Nagar police station's senior inspector Bhagwat Sonawane said.

The accused is part of a gang of drug addicts involved in extorting money from shopkeepers, he added
The incident was captured on the CCTV camera installed in the shop with the help of which police traced and nabbed four members of the gang, who were later remanded in police custody by a local court, the police officer said.
Search is on for two more persons in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper has been admitted to a hospital, police said.
According to Thakur's brother Manish, a group of drug addicts had been allegedly trying to extort Rs 1,500-2,000 every month from the 200 odd shops in the Chembur area by threatening to damage their set-up if the money was not given.

"My brother and I had distributed pamphlets and put up small posters outside shops in Chembur so that the shopkeepers refuse to pay the extortion money," he claimed.
"In last one-and-a-half months, we had informed police thrice about threats for extortion from junkies in the area. But, neither preventive nor any other appropriate action was taken," he alleged.
"Few days back, my brother and I had taken a group of shopkeepers to DCP (Zone VI) and informed him about the constant threats. The DCP had instructed the police personnel concerned to take action against the culprits," he said.
"However, no action was taken by the police. We are the cops waiting for such an untoward incident or someone to die for taking action against the hooligans?" he asked.

DCP (Zone VI) Sangram Singh Nishandar was unavailable for comments in this regard.