Mumbai Police finds over 200 ED case documents in possession of gang involved in extortion

The accused being produced in court. Pic/Sameer Markande

Mumbai Crime Unit 09 is delving deeper into a Rs 164 crore extortion case, resulting in the arrest of six individuals by the Crime Branch. Additionally, an unidentified Enforcement Directorate (ED) person has been booked by the Crime Branch. Sources have disclosed that during the course of the investigation, officials have uncovered over 200 files and case papers being examined by the ED. The Crime Branch now suspects that the gang may have extorted over Rs 100 crore from various businessmen and builders under investigation by the ED.

According to sources, the Crime Branch suspects that the files recovered from the arrested suspects may have been used to allegedly settle matters with the ED in collusion with an unknown individual from the agency. Officials suspect that the extortion amount could be over R100 crore. However, the Crime Branch has not found any evidence to confirm that the accused have already extorted large sums from those whose files and case papers were recovered from them.

Arrested accused being taken to court. Pic/Sameer Markande

During the last week of January, Unit 09 arrested six individuals, including Hire Ramesh Bhagat, also known as Romi Bhagat. The police suspect that Bhagat is the key figure in the syndicate and allegedly had connections with several bureaucrats and politicians, using these contacts to allegedly settle matters. However, the Crime Branch has not directly named any ED officer or other bureaucrats in the case.

The case was registered by the Crime Branch based on complaints from a top builder who alleged a financial dispute over a development project in the DN Nagar area. The builder's rival filed a case against him with the EOW Mumbai, and soon after, the builder started receiving calls from unknown individuals warning him about the ED's involvement. Fearing potential ED action, the builder agreed to meet these unknown callers along with a friend. During the meeting, the builder was threatened to pay Rs 164 crore to his rival builder or face ED action. The unknown individual who represented the ED man during the meeting is also under investigation by the Crime Branch.

According to sources, the case papers found in possession of the accused include the Mahadev app case registered by Matunga police, based on a court order and being investigated by the cyber cell. The FIR in this case names more than 30 accused, including directors of Dabur group. Additionally, details of another case linked to the Dabur group, being investigated by the EOW Mumbai, were also found in the possession of the accused. Furthermore, details of a prominent builder, against whom a case was registered by the Delhi police, were also found.

"The accused have been operating a syndicate and accessing all the documents through an open platform, based on which they approach prominent builders and businessmen to settle matters with the ED. We are probing how many cases they have settled and also reaching out to those who are being investigated by the ED to check if the same set of people have approached them to settle matters," said an officer of the Crime Branch.

Rs 164 cr
Amount allegedly extorted