Mumbai: 4 held for trying to extort money on pretext of breach of COVID-19 norms

Police have arrested fourclean-up marshals for trying to extort money from a factoryowner in suburban Andheri after accusing him of not followingCOVID-19 related norms, an official said.

The accused worked with a private security agencywhich is appointed by the Mumbai civic body to collect finefrom those who spit in public places and do not follow othercleanliness norms, the police official said on Saturday.

As per the complainant, on April 21, one of theclean-up marshals, identified as Ajit Singh, visited him anddemanded Rs one lakh after alleging that COVID-19 relatednorms were not being followed at his factory, he said.

The factory owner paid him Rs 20,000. However, onFriday again four others visited him and demanded money whilemaking the same allegation.

The factory owner then approached MIDC Andheri policestation, the official said.

The police registered an FIR under Indian Penal Codesection 384 (extortion) and arrested the four men, he said,adding that main accused Ajit Singh is wanted in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)