A 37-year-old divorcee was arrested by Navi Mumbai Anti-Extortion cell for trying to extort money from the father of a 25-year-old law student with whom he had a love affair. The accused Pritam Ramesh Ranade, a resident of Taloja who had already extorted Rs 1 lakh from the complainant to break the love-relation with his daughter, was threatening him to pay Rs 2 lakh more. He had threatened the complainant that he would upload his daughter’s pictures on social media sites.
Ranade had got in touch with 25-year-old Priya (name changed) via OLX on the pretext of finding a shared flat for his friend’s sister. Priya who was staying in Navi Mumbai as a paying guest was also in search of a shared apartment and had hence posted her requirement on OLX using which Ranade got in touch with her in 2014. Ranade had introduced himself as Adwait Pradhan who worked as a software trouble shooter. The duo exchanged messages and frequently chatted and started off with a love-relationship.
In July 2015, Vaishali Mudaliyar, a resident of Kamothe, registered a case against Ranade for dowry harassment in which he got arrested for a short period before getting bailed out. “It is during that time when Priya learnt about his real name and that he had got married in the year 2006 and had three children.,” said Assistant Police Inspector Deepak Shikhare from Anti-Extortion cell of Navi Mumbai Crime Branch.
According to police, Ranade had convinced Priya to stay in the relation even after he was out on bail.
