NCP leader receives Rs 2 crore ransom call from gangster Suresh Pujari

Thane: Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Ashish Damle has alleged that he received an extortion call demanding a ransom of Rs 2 crore.

According to the complaint filed by Damle with Badlapur (West) police station in Thane, he received a call from an international number on September 20. The caller identified himself as one Suresh Pujari.

"Pujari further said that he had spoken to Damle's father and asked him to make a payment of Rs 2 crore as ransom. The caller also threatened Damle of dire consequences if he failed to make the payment," Badlapur (West) police station senior Inspector Ashok Wandekar, quoting the complaint said today.

Damle said that Pujari informed him that his aides were keeping an eye on his whereabouts in Badlapur.

The NCP leader, a councillor in the Kulgaon Badlapur Municipal council, is also into real estate business.

Damle said prior to getting the call, his father received a call from a national number, also from a man identifying himself as Suresh Pujari, and demanded Rs 2 crore as ransom.

No arrest has been made so far in this connection and investigations are on, the officer added.