Mumbai: Congress MLA Nitesh Rane was on Friday booked by the Santacruz police for trying to extort money and issuing threats to a Juhu-based restaurateur.
According to the police, complainant Hitesh Keswani, who owns Estella , approached them with a complaint against Mr. Rane, backed by CCTV footage. Officers said on examining the footage, they found that two men had barged into the hotel and ransacked the establishment at 10.30 p.m. on Thursday. They were then seeing threatening staff, asking them to tell the owner to pay up.
“I received a call from my restaurant staff about the extortion and goons. I rushed there and then proceeded straight to the police station to lodge the complaint,” Mr. Keswani said. Based on his complaint, police registered an FIR against Mr. Rane and two men for alleged extortion and threatening. The police have arrested the two goons and are conducting inquiries.
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Mr. Rane said he was not aware of any such incident. “I have not got a call from any police officers about the case and I have no knowledge about the extortion or threatening case,” the MLA from Kankavali, who is the younger son of former Chief Minister Narayan Rane, told
Rashmi Karandikar, DCP (Establishment) and Mumbai Police spokesperson, said they have registered the case and are investigating the CCTV footage and the role of Mr. Rane in the incident.