Woman, associates arrested for demanding extortion

A 35-year-old woman and her two associates were arrested here for allegedly trying to extort Rs 25 lakh from a Goregaon-based builder, using the name of a prominent political party, police said today.
Lajwanti Hardasani (35), a resident of Virar, and her associates-- Prakash Mehta (36) and Siddesh Samant (36), both residents of Bhyander, were arrested yesterday, said inspector (Crime) Deepak Phatangare.
According to crime branch officials, the builder had received number of phone calls in April this year from a woman, who later turned out be Hardasani, demanding Rs 25 lakh for a political party in the backdrop of the General Elections, which was held in April and May.

She claimed to be associated with a political party, the name of which was not revealed by the investigators.
The builder however, expressed his unwillingness to shell out the money, citing, that his father was not well, the officer added.
The woman, on July 4 rang up again to demand money and also threatened to harm the businessman and bomb his Goregaon office.

"The victim's manager has also received a number of calls from her. The builder then lodged a complaint at Dindoshi police station and crime branch officials began conducting a parallel probe," he said.
An information was received that the woman's associate would be reaching the victim's office yesterday and accordingly a trap was laid and Mehta was nabbed.

Based on the information provided by Mehta, the police arrested Hardasani and Samant from Bhyander and Virar respectively, police said.