Mumbai: The Vile Parle police on Saturday have arrested a 30-year-old man from Jharkhand for allegedly posing as jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to extort money from a local jeweller.
The accused, Imtiyaz Alam Ansari, was identified as the alleged mastermind after four men were arrested earlier this week near Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Kurla, while allegedly collecting ransom.
Police said Ansari used a UK-based SIM card to send over 20 WhatsApp messages and make at least six threatening calls to Vile Parle-based jeweller Ajit Jain, 46, between February 12 and 16, demanding ₹20 lakh. He allegedly warned of dire consequences if the money was not paid.
After Jain approached the police, the caller negotiated the ransom down to ₹5 lakh and asked the money be delivered at LTT on February 17, using the code word “Lalpari”.
Jain’s employees reached the meeting spot with a bag containing cash. Around 4.30pm, four men approached, repeated the code word twice and collected the bag. As they attempted to flee in an autorickshaw, officers in plainclothes chased them for about 200 metres and apprehended them.
The four held at the spot were identified as Deepak Dangol, 19, Faizan Khan, 27, Majid Khan, 21, and Sahil Shaikh, 20. During interrogation, they allegedly revealed Ansari’s role, following which he was tracked down to Dhanbad through technical surveillance.
All five accused will be produced before a local court on Monday.