Extortion case: Chhota Rajan gang member arrested by Pune police, handed over to CBI

Pune, February 3, 2021: A team of the Pune city police crime branch has arrested Chhota Rajan’s absconding accomplice, who was charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in an extortion case, along with Rajan. The arrested accused has been identified as Parmanand Hansraj Thakkar (56).

A case was registered against Suresh Shinde, Ashok Nikam, Sumit Mhatre, and Parmanand Thakkar at the Panvel city police station along with notorious goon Chhota Rajan for demanding extortion of Rs 25 crore from a builder by forging documents of a single site in Mumbai. After that, the Mumbai police had taken action under the MCOCA.

The Navi Mumbai Sessions Court had sentenced Chhota Rajan, Suresh Shinde, Ashok Nikam, and Sumit Mhatre to two years in prison and a fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed. However, the accused Parmanand Thakkar had absconded and has now been arrested after six years. He was on the wanted list by the Mumbai police and CBI.

The crime branch of Pune police came to know about the whereabouts of Thakkar and that he was residing in the Kondhwa area of Pune.

After verifying the information, a team from the crime branch raided the Three Jewels by Kolte-Patil building in Tillekar Nagar in Kondhwa and arrested him. He has been handed over to the CBI for further action.

The accused is a notorious criminal who has earlier been booked for demanding ransom and forging documents of the premises. Around 11 cases of check bounce have been registered against him.

“Arrested accused Parmanand Thakkar had absconded Navi Mumbai in relation to the extortion case involving Chhota Rajan and his gang. In the same case, the magistrate has sentenced the accused Chhota Rajan, Suresh Shinde, Sumit Mhatre, and Ashok Nikam with imprisonment of two years.

Unit-1 Police Inspector Sunil Takawale and his team received confidential information about Thakkar’s whereabouts and apprehended him yesterday. There are a total of six offences against him. After verification, he has been handed over to CBI (Special Crime-2) for further legal action,” said DCP Bachchan Singh, Crime Branch, Pune city police.

The accused was arrested by the team comprising Police Sub-Inspectors Sanjay Gaikwad, Sunil Kulkarni and police personnel Yogesh Jagtap, Ajay Thorat, Sachin Jadhav, Mahesh Bamgude, Ayaz Daddikar, and Tushar Malwadkar.