Vadodara trader gets Rs 1 crore extortion call, 2 held from Rajasthan

According to the police, Ramnivas used to work at the trader’s sweets shop but was laid off due to his “conduct and behavioural issues”. The police said that Ramnivas tried to contact the trader earlier in June to request him to retain him on the job but the trader refused, and Ramnivas decided to “avenge the insult”.

“Ramnivas then contacted his accomplice Prahlad and they decided to make phone calls to intimidate the complainant and extort money from him. They demanded Rs 1 crore and threatened bloodshed if the complainant did not concede to the demand,” the DCB said.

The police said that the anonymous phone calls were made on June 12 and 14. The complainant is the brother of an elected representative of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

“It was Ramnivas who led the police to Prahlad as the duo had decided to meet at a location in Vadodara from where the DCB sleuths also arrested Prahlad,” the DCB said.

According to the police, Prahlad has been booked in 10 separate cases in Jodhpur, Chittorgarh and Udaipur in Rajasthan, including two cases of murder, attempt to murder, loot, cheating as well as under the Arms Act.

The two accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication), 386 (extortion) and [120(b)] (criminal conspiracy) as well as sections of the Arms Act.