20 hours Ago
Surat: Saroli police have arrested five members of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 1 crore from three private coaching institutes in the city. The accused were caught red-handed while accepting Rs 5 lakh as part of the extortion money, having already taken Rs 1.5 lakh as a token amount.
According to police, the accused threatened to tarnish the reputation of the institutes by holding a press conference and falsely claiming they were issuing bogus degrees. The owners of the institutes secretly recorded three videos of the extortion demands before filing a complaint with the police. Following the arrests, NSUI Gujarat president suspended the accused members, including vice-president Mitesh Hadiya, Surat NSUI president Dhirendra Solanki, and members Ravi Puchhadiya, Preet Chavda, and Tushar Makwana.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajdeepsinh Nakum stated: "The accused created and circulated reels on social media targeting the three institutes. They then contacted the owners, demanding Rs 1 crore to refrain from making public allegations that could have resulted in severe legal consequences for them. After negotiations, they settled on Rs 60 lakh.
" As per the FIR, Hasumkh Rafaliya, owner of Red & White Multimedia Education, which has 22 branches across Gujarat, and his associates, who run AD-Tech and Creative Institutes, were targeted. The extortion bid began on January 4 when Ravi Puchhadiya first contacted them. Before this, defamatory videos about the institutes had already been circulated online.
Rafaliya and his associates arranged three meetings with the accused and secretly recorded their conversations. In the footage, the extortionists can be seen bargaining before settling on Rs 60 lakh. Acting on the complaint, Inspector S.
R. Vekariya and his team from Saroli police raided a location near a Box Cricket facility and arrested the accused. During the bust, one of the accused asked Rafaliya if the remaining Rs 58.
5 lakh was in the bag, to which he affirmed. Police have also booked two additional suspects, Abhishek Chauhan and Kishor Dabhi, in connection with the case. Stay updated with breaking news , bank holidays and upcoming public holidays in march .
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