Since the arrest of gangster Ejaz Lakdawala and his associates, extortion calls across the city have reduced to almost 90 per cent. But his arrest is not the only reason for this. According to the Mumbai police, besides Lakdawala, 23 gangsters were brought to justice in the past eight months, all due to the efforts of chief of the Mumbai Crime Branch, Santosh Rastogi.

Rastogi, a 1998 batch IPS officer, took charge of the Mumbai Crime Branch last year in May. The Anti-Extortion Cell was flooded with complaints from businessmen, builders and VIPs. The extortion calls they got were mainly from gangsters such as Lakdawala, Faheem Machmach, Suresh Pujari, Ravi Pujari, Prasad Pujari and the Chhota Shakeel gang.