The Mumbai Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel's brother-in-law Arif Sheikh alias Arif Bhaijan and builder Jayesh Shah in connection with an extortion case, a police official said.
The Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Crime Branch took custody of the duo, who were in jail in separate criminal matters, in the case registered against them at the Dongri police station, in which Shakeel has been shown as a wanted accused, he said.
According to the Crime Branch official, the case was registered on Monday against Shakeel, Sheikh and Shah on charges of issuing threats, extortion and criminal conspiracy on a complaint lodged by a South Mumbai-based businessman, who is also a realty developer.
The Crime Branch arrested both the accused from Arthur Road Jail where they were lodged after investigation into the extortion case was transferred to the elite police unit.
The 59-year-old Sheikh was earlier arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a terror funding case filed against fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and some of his close associates. Builder Shah was apprehended by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police in a separate case.
According to the complainant realty developer, he had purchased a 5-acre land parcel in Mira Road, a suburb of Mumbai, in August 2012 for Rs 4 crore and had got its possession. However, later he learnt the earlier owner had sold the same land to the real estate group owned by Jayesh Shah.
The complainant met Shah to find an amicable solution to the dispute, the official said.
Later, the victim started searching for a person who would purchase the disputed property. He approached a real estate agent who informed him about a potential buyer without revealing his name, said the official, quoting the complaint.
The agent introduced him to Sheikh and the complainant know he was the brother-in-law of Shakeel. The complainant was told he should pay Shah Rs 5 crore and also hand him over 50,000 square feet of saleable area to settle the matter with him, he said. The victim was told Shah had financial transactions with Sheikh, who was also linked to his construction company, he said.
When the complainant refused to pay money and provide saleable area to Shah, he was threatened and told his family members, too, will be be harmed, the official said.
The victim told the police after the NIA arrested Sheikh in May 2022 he gathered courage and lodged a complaint against Shakeel's kin.
"Gangster Chhota Shakeel is our wanted accused in the case. The three people named in the FIR (first information report) are Arif Bhaijan, Jayesh Shah and Chhota Shakeel," the official added.