Overview
- Anti-Extortion Cell officers detained Hemlata Aditya Patkar and Amrina Iqbal Zaveri on Tuesday while they accepted a cash instalment, according to police.
- Investigators say the demand rose as high as ₹10–10.5 crore before being negotiated to ₹5.5 crore after threats to implicate the builder’s son in a false molestation case and to defame the family.
- Reports differ on the amount seized during the trap, with police accounts citing ₹1.5 crore and one outlet reporting ₹1 crore as the first instalment.
- The case traces back to a November 14 party dispute in Andheri that preceded a November 23 molestation FIR at Amboli Police Station involving the builder’s son.
- A court has remanded the two suspects to police custody until December 27 as the Crime Branch seeks an absconding associate named Utkarsh and probes the money trail under extortion-related charges registered at N. M. Joshi Marg Police Station.