Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested notorious gangster DK Rao, a known associate of underworld don Chhota Rajan, along with his six accomplices for allegedly threatening the owner of a hotel to usurp his property and demanding Rs 2.5 crore.
Ravindra Mallesh Bora, alias DK Rao (53) who has 21 offences against him, was arrested along with Abubakar Siddiqui, Imran Kalim Shaikh, Riyaz Shaikh, Asif Khan alias Darbar, Javed Khan, and Hanif Naik alias Annubhai. All seven accused were charged under the BNS sections of cheating, forgery, breach of trust, threatening, and extortion. They were produced before the 37th Magistrate Court and remanded to police custody.
Complainant Ramdas Laxmiprasad Vishwakarma, 74, the proprietor of ‘Empire Engineering Corporation’ in Andheri East, said the dispute began in 2016 when one Abdullah Abu suggested converting Ramdas’s property into a hotel, leading to subsequent agreements and construction completion in 2019.
Abu paid Rs 70 lakh in exchange for taking over the operation of the said hotel, and the construction was completed in April 2019. Abu and Abubakar entered into a leave and licence agreement for 5 years until June 2024 on the condition of paying a deposit of Rs 50 lakh and paying Rs 1 lakh as rent. However, he neither paid Rs 50 lakh nor any rent. The said ‘Hotel Empire‘ was run by Abu and his son Abubakar.
Ramdas soon realised that the duo and Farooq were trying to usurp the said place from him. After a few days, the duo Abdullah placed a proposal for the sale of the hotel.
Abdullah and Abubakar stated that the sale price of the hotel was Rs 10 crore. They then threatened Ramdas that if they found a customer to buy the hotel and the price was fixed, they would take half of it.
The accused allegedly created fraudulent documents and attempted to seize control of the property through deceptive means, police said
On Sept 27, Ramdas was called to a hotel in the westrrn suburbs where DK Rao and his associates allegedly threatened witness Muktar Shaikh, demanding Rs 2.5 crore. Ramdas then lodged a complaint.