02 December,2010 07:07 AM IST | | Poornima Swaminathan
The crime branch of Mumbai police called a prominent city-based builder for interrogation about his alleged links with deported gangster Bunty Pandey.
The builder, who has a flourishing business in the Bandra-Jogeshwari belt, was called in late last night.
While interrogating Pandey, a former Chhota Rajan aide, the police stumbled upon his stakes in the builder's business.
They were shocked to learn that the builder was, in fact, one of Pandey's extortion victims.
"We are verifying the builder's claims and checking his phone records for the same," said a senior crime branch official.
Sources said that the builder and Pandey had other business interests together and were also linked to
several influential people.
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Preliminary investigation revealed that the builder had been passing on information about other builders in the city to aid his extortion racket.
"Last year, Pandey called up several builders threatening them to pay up as he wanted money for a relative's heart surgery.
He called up several influential people, including builders," said the crime branch official. Sources added that the builder received a commission on the extortion booty that was collected by Pandey's gang members.
Mumbai Crime Branch Chief Himanshu Roy said that several people have been called in for questioning. "I would not like to comment on the names. It is premature," he said.
Pandey was nabbed in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and then flown into India earlier last month. Since 2002, Pandey had been living in several Asian countries.
The police recovered an Indian passport under the name Vijay Subhash Sharma with a date of issue shown as 1999.
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The issuing authority is the Indian Embassy in Cambodia.
