Union minister Nitin Gadkari's office in Nagpur received three extortion calls from a man demanding Rs 10 crore, a police official said on Tuesday. Security was increased at Gadkari's office and residence in the wake incident.
"Three calls were received at the office of Nitin Gadkari, all by one man who identified himself as Jayesh Pujari. The number was found to be that of a woman who is in Mangaluru. We also communicated with her, she works in event management. We are finding out if the call was placed by her friend or Jayesh Pujari," said Rahul Madane, DCP Nagpur.
The man on the call stated that he had demanded 100 shares last time and he should be given at least 10 this time, Madane added.
According to the police, the accused did not issue any life threats to Gadkari.
Man booked for circulating posts links to Gadkari
In another matter, the cyber cell of Nagpur police registered a case against a man for allegedly posting offensive comments on social media which had references to Gadkari.
According to the police, the accused, Dattatray Joshi, made certain references to Gadkari in the posts circulated on WhatsApp.
On learning about this, Gadkari's office, through Twitter, urged the cyber police to register a case. A representative of the senior BJP leader's office in Nagpur later filed a complaint with the police and demanded strict action against the person who made the posts viral.
Accordingly, a case was registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act against the accused, an official said on Monday.
(With agencies input)
