Pune: Six held for using Maha deputy CM's phone number in extortion bid

He told about the same to Kakde, who then offered his help by claiming to know Pawars personal assistant and promised that he would ask him to call the developer, an official said.Kakade then used a fake call app and called the developer using Pawars phone number, he said.

Six people have been arrested for allegedly using the phone number of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to contact a city-based builder and later attempting to extort Rs 20 lakh from him, police said on Friday.

The crime branch laid a trap and nabbed the accused while accepting Rs 2 lakh from the builder on Thursday, an official said. According to the police, one of the accused used Pawar's number on a ''fake call'' application to call up the complainant and pretended to be from the deputy chief minister's staff. The accused have been identified as Navnath Chormale, Saurabh Kakade, Sunil Waghmare, Kiran Kakde, Chaitanya Waghmare, and Akash Nikalje.

''The developer had purchased a parcel of land from Chormale's grandfather in 1997 after due process. Chormale recently sought compensation from the developer and filed a litigation. He told about the same to Kakde, who then offered his help by claiming to know Pawar's personal assistant and promised that he would ask him to call the developer,'' an official said.

Kakade then used a fake call app and called the developer using Pawar's phone number, he said. ''The developer's assistant received the call presuming that it was Pawar who was calling. Kakade introduced himself as Pawar's PA and instructed him to 'settle' the matter with Chormale,'' the official said.

After finding out about the phone call, the developer called up Pawar's PA to confirm, only to find out that the call had not been made from the deputy chief minister's phone, he said.

The developer then approached Chormale, who demanded Rs 20 lakh from him to settle the matter, he said. ''The accused was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 2 lakh. During the investigation, Kakade revealed that he had used a fake call app and used Pawar's number,'' the official said.

Chormale, Kakade and other fours involved in the conspiracy have been arrested under relevant sections of the IPC, he said.

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