Cops bust extortion gangs, nab 5 for targeting bizmen

Panaji: Police on Monday busted two different alleged extortion gangs operating in the state. They arrested five people in connection with an alleged extortion racket targeting businessmen from Reis Magos and Keri-Sattari.

In the first case, on June 9, Avinash Sinde of Reis Magos, in his complaint, said Tarzan Parsekar, a resident of Nagoa, Sagar Patil, and an unidentified man blocked his way with a car while he was proceeding to his residence. Sinde said that they abused him and threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay the extortion amount of Rs 1 lakh per month as demanded by them. SP (North Goa) Rahul Gupta said that the accused persons have already extorted an amount of Rs 1 lakh from the complainant by putting him in fear of death on different occasions. Based on the complaint, Porvorim police registered an FIR in connection with the extortion case.Gupta said that the high court of Bombay at Goa cancelled Parsekar and Patil’s bail in March 2024, and since then, the duo were not traceable and always on the run. Porvorim police station received a tip-off about the movements of Parsekar and Patil over the past five days.While Porvorim police were in pursuit of the accused, they somehow managed to escape through the internal roads of Pernem and took shelter at the house of one Ajit Satardekar at Pernem, Gupta said.

“Based on reliable information, Porvorim police, with the assistance of Pernem police, searched the house on Sunday and caught Parsekar and Patil on the first floor. The duo got in a scuffle with police personnel while attempting to flee,” the SP said.

“However, the team managed to detain Parsekar and Patil.”In the second case, Muaaz Shaikh, a resident of Keri, and his uncle Abbas Karol, a resident of Sanquelim, were wrongfully restrained while they were travelling in their car on June 8. “Accused Salman Ruwabali Khan, 26, Khorlim, Old Goa, and Maksud Azad Khan, 29, a resident of Muslimwada, Bhoma, along with three unknown occupants and one more accused person riding a motorcycle, intercepted the complainant’s vehicle and threatened the complainant’s uncle by putting him under fear of death and demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh,” Gupta said.The accused fled the scene upon learning that the victim dialled the 112-emergency helpline. Based on the complaint, Bicholim police registered the FIR. “Soon after the complaint, Salman and Maksud were apprehended,” Gupta said. “During the interrogation, the arrested duo named the third accused, Siddharth, who provided information regarding the victim’s travel route from Sanquelim to Mayem.”