Delhi Police today claimed to have busted an organised gang operating from Uttar Pradesh following the arrests of an alleged extortionists, who is an accused in the murders of two former BJP MLAs, and his aide.
Sanjeev Maheshwari (41), who is said to have links with gangster-politicos Munna Bajrangi and Mukhtyar Ansari, is also an accused in the murders of two ex-BJP MLAs Brahmadutt Dwiwedi and Krishna Anand Rai.
According to the police, a case was registered against Maheshwari at Vivek Vihar police station in East Delhi after he allegedly threatened a city-based developer to transfer some apartments in a under-construction project by him in Dehradun.
"Maheshwari wanted the apartments transferred in the name of his nominees," Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Ajay Kumar said.
Further investigation into the matter revealed his aide Sunil Awasthi's role in the case and that he worked on Maheshwari's instructions, police said.
According to police, Maheshwari's men procured SIM cards on fake names and addresses to make extortion calls.
"During probe, Maheshwari disclosed the gang targeted several developers and businessmen from Lucknow, Roorkee and Haridwar. However, no businessman took up the matters before police out of fear," police said.
A laboratory technician at a Muzaffarnagar nursing home once, Maheshwari was arrested for the first time in 1995 in connection with a land dispute.
While in jail, Maheshwari got in touch with Satender Barwala, an Uttar Pradesh-based gangster, who asked him to meet one Vijay Singh from Farrukhabad once out of prison.
It was Singh at whose behest Maheshwari allegedly killed the former's opponent Dwiwedi.
In 2002, Maheshwari and Barwala, out of jail by then, were arrested by Mumbai Police in a separate case and later lodged in Lucknow jail. There he met Ansari.
Three years later, Ansari allegedly contacted Maheshwari, who was out on bail then, to kill Rai. Maheshwari allegedly executed the contract with the help of Bajrangi.
Special cell of Delhi Police arrested Maheshwari in 2006 and has been in jail since then and accused of operating from prison premise.
