Gawli's cousin's remand extended till Apr 8

Mumbai, Apr 2 (UNI) The 37th Metropolitan Court today extended the police custody of Vijay Ahir, brother of gangster turned politician Arun Gawli, Ajit Chandrakant Rane and Dinesh Narkar till April 8 for their alleged involvement in demanding extortion money of Rs 50 lakh from a builder in north-central Mumbai.

Moving the remand application, Crime Branch Officials said police has recovered two empty revolvers from possession of the accused and the investigation is yet to be completed. The supplier of the revolver is still absconding and hence we have demanded for further custodial interrogation of the accused.

Ahir (45) and Narkar (23) were arrested on March 26 by the Crime Branch Unit-I from their residence at Mazgaon, while Rane was arrested on March 27 at Sakinaka.

Police had also seized cash worth Rs 18,000 and gold ornaments worth Rs 4.5 lakh consisting of five gold chains, one bracelet and five gold rings from their possession. All the accused were remanded to police custody till April 2.

On March 25, a builder from Dadar had lodged a complaint against Ahir and his accomplices for threatening him and taking him to Dagdi Chawl in Byculla while demanding a sum of Rs 50 lakh as extortion money.

The accused had already extorted Rs 8 lakh from the builder between October 2005 and June 2007. They again started threatening him and demanded more money. When the builder did not comply with their demand, Narkar allegedly took the builder to Dagdi Chawl at gunpoint to meet Ahir, police added.

UNI ST NM RL PM1701