Gangster threatens corporator named in Thane builder's suicide note

The caller, who claimed he was gangster Ravi Pujari, said Vikrant Chavan would be killed if he failed to recover money invested in Parmar’s projects

In a new twist to the Suraj Parmar suicide case, Congress corporator Vikrant Chavan’s office received a call from gangster Ravi Pujari around 8.30 am on Wednesday. Dnyandeo Chikane, Congress ward president who answered the alleged Pujari call, immediately filed a complaint at the Vartak Nagar police station.

(L to R) Sudhakar Chavan, Hanumant Jagdale, Vikrant Chavan and Najib Mulla

Chavan is one of the four corporators named by Parmar in his multi-page suicide note accused of extorting money from him.
“The caller intimidated the person saying that he was Pujari and had made huge investments in Parmar’s projects. He said if he lost the money due to the ongoing conflict between the corporators and Parmar, he would kill Chavan. The caller, who claimed he was Pujari, left his cellphone number with Chikane and asked him to tell Chavan to call on it. We have booked the caller for criminal intimidation,” a police officer from Vartak Nagar police station said.

Surprisingly, Parmar’s son Abhishek had lodged a similar complaint at the Navpada police station last week. In his complaint, Abhishek claimed an anonymous caller threatened him with dire consequences if he pursued his father’s case further.
Sources from Thane police, however, claimed the calls could have been orchestrated to weaken the case and gain sympathy from the court during the next hearing scheduled for November 23.

Suraj Parmar, who committed suicide on October 7, had named four corporators in his suicide note. They were identified as Vikrant Chavan, Sudhakar Chavan, Najib Mulla and Hanumant Jagdale. At present, all four corporators have managed to secure interim relief from being arrested — till December 2 — from a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court.

Officialspeak
“We are investigating both the cases and tracking the phone numbers from which the calls were made. This should allow us to trace the callers and ascertain whether the calls were genuine or fake. So far, we have managed to secure both the numbers,” said a senior police officer from the Thane Commissionerate.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!