Kanpur (UP), Aug 7 (PTI) A lawyer and his aide have been arrested on charges of running an extortion racket and blackmailing several high-profile persons, including a BJP leader, an official said on Thursday.
The accused lawyer, Akhilesh Dubey allegedly implicated dozens of people, including a BJP leader, Ravi Satija, by filing false rape cases to extort money, he said.
Dubey and his associate, Lavi Mishra, were arrested on Wednesday night after a month-long “Operation Mahakal” was launched by Kanpur police to bust extortion rackets and combat land mafia.
The arrests came after the BJP leader lodged an FIR with Barra police on Monday, accusing Dubey of orchestrating a fake rape FIR against him at the police station last year and demanding 50 lakh to get the case withdrawn.
The FIR was lodged based on a complaint by a girl who never turned up before the investigation team to record her statement, resulting in filing of closure report, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Deependra Nath Chaudhary said.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of DCP (Crime) investigated the case and confirmed that the rape charges were fake and the case was registered with an intent to extort money, he added.
Police then detained Dubey from his house in Kidwai Nagar along with his associate, Mishra for interrogation. During the six-hour-long questioning the were unable to produce any evidence in their defence and were subsequently arrested, the officer said.
A case has also been registered against Nisha Kumari, Geeta Kumari, Vimal Yadav, Abhishek Bajpai, Shailendra Yadav alias Tonu Yadav, and several others for their alleged involvement in the racket, police said.
Chaudhary further said that the BJP MP from Sitapur, Ashok Kumar Rawat, had written to the police commissioner about a growing network of persons misusing legal provisions to extort money through fake criminal cases.
Taking cognisance of MP’s letter, the SIT was formed on March 3 and DCP (Crime) was asked to lead it.
Police had summoned the minor and her sister on whose complaint the FIR was lodged against the BJP leader, for recording their statements, but both have gone underground and they are allegedly on the run.
Efforts are being made to bust the organised blackmail syndicate, with more arrests expected in the coming days, he added. PTI COR ABN ABN SHS OZ
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