Mumbai, Sep 2 (PTI) The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested two more accused in connection with an extortion racket run by Zulfikar Behlim and his ‘Z’ gang, taking the number of persons in custody in the matter to 17, an official said on Wednesday.
Sikandar Cheemu, an alleged drug supplier and one of the two persons, was nabbed from a long-distance train at Panvel while he was returning to Mumbai from Kerala.
Based on information provided by him, the second accused, Feeroz Khan alias Sahil Bantai, was arrested from Dharavi in central Mumbai, the official said.
Cheemu, a resident of Kalina here, is a known drug supplier, the official said. In 2020, he was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in connection with a case involving trafficking of mephedrone valued at about Rs 20 crore, he said.
The Crime Branch had earlier arrested 12 members of the alleged ‘Z’ gang for allegedly demanding Rs 25 lakh from a Mumbai-based builder in July this year and threatening to kill him. Following the arrests, several other suspects allegedly linked to the gang came under the scanner of the Crime Branch, the official said.
The gang allegedly operated on the lines of the infamous D-Gang of Dawood Ibrahim and extorted money from businessmen, contractors and residents in the western suburbs, officials said. Its members allegedly threatened victims with firearms, physically assaulted them and issued death threats, they said.
‘Kingpin’ Zulfikar Behlim and his brother Mohsin Behlim are among the 17 arrested persons, the official said.
The police said Zulfikar Behlim had previously been arrested under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and was out on bail when he allegedly committed the present offence along with his brother and other associates.
The Mumbai Crime Branch has invoked the MCOCA against all members of the alleged ‘Z’ gang.
Behlim and his associates face multiple serious criminal cases registered against them at various police stations in the western suburbs, including offences related to extortion, criminal intimidation, assault and illegal use of weapons. PTI ZA NR
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