MUMBAI: For the last 20 years, he had been taking plumbing contracts from a builder. But the lure of getting rich quickly made 41-year-old Ashfaq Jameer Sayyed alias Chhuttan assume an extortionist’s role and issue threats to his employer, eventually landing him in police hands.
Ashfaq Jameer Sayyed alias Chhuttan, 41, who posed as a Chhota Shakeel gangster to demand Rs1 crore from a builder, was arrested by the anti-robbery and dacoity squad of the crime branch of the Mumbai police on Monday. The builder and Ashfaq knew each other for the past 20 years.
“Arrested from Idgah Maidan in Jogeshari (East), Chhuttan has been booked under sections 387 and 34 IPC and remanded in police custody till January 29 by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate’s court at Esplanade on Tuesday,” said sub-inspector Satish Mayekar of anti-robbery and dacoity squad.
Ashfaq’s threat calls began in August 2007, when the builder was at his construction site office at Ambawadi at Andheri (East). The caller demanded Rs1 crore as ransom, failing which he threatened to eliminate the builder. A scared builder then lodged a complaint with the anti-robbery and dacoity squad. In the intervening time, the builder went to Delhi for some personal work and returned to Mumbai after three months. During this period, he did not get any threat calls.
On December 12, 2007, the builder again got a threat call, this time at his residence. The caller demanded Rs50 lakh. After two days, Asfaq Sayyed, the plumber, met the builder at his Andheri office and asked him about the ransom calls of Chhota Shakeel and also told him to give the ransom money to the gangster as early as possible and otherwise you (builder) would face the consequence. The builder, who had not revealed the extortion calls to anyone, was shocked to hear this. He also narrated the incident to squad.
k_dayanand@dnaindia.net
