2 weeks Ago
Surat: The special operations group (SOG) and Udhna police arrested former Surat Municipal Corporation councillor Prakash Desai , after he allegedly took payment of Rs 3 lakh in extortion money . Desai had allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh from the owner of a tuition class, claiming his building was illegal. After a complaint was lodged with the SOG, police raided Desai's house after he accepted the money.
A complaint was filed with Udhna police. The complainant, Jigar Kathiriya, runs a tuition class in a four-storey building in the Meeranagar area of Udhna. Desai had been filing various RTI applications to get details of the building, allegedly to harass the owner.
After seeking the building details, Desai allegedly called Kathiriya and demanded Rs 10 lakh to not report his building to the SMC. As Kathiriya couldn't pay Rs 10 lakh, he asked Desai to reduce the amount. The ‘deal' was finalized at Rs 6.
5 lakh. As Kathiriya did not want to pay, he contacted SOG police, which had begun a drive against extortionists. Kathiriya acted as instructed by the SOG sleuths and offered to pay the first instalment of Rs 3 lakh.
Desai told Kathiriya to come to his house with the cash. On Tuesday morning, after Kathiriya left Desai's home after the transaction, SOG and Udhna police arrived. On sensing the cop's presence, Desai locked himself inside his home and refused to open the door.
When police inquired about him, his family members claimed Desai was not at home. Nevertheless, an SOG policeman entered the first-floor balcony of Desai's house from an adjacent building and compelled him to open the door. Desai had won the SMC election as an independent candidate a couple of times in the past and was a popular independent leader when he won during a BJP wave.
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