The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected an anticipatory bail application of Dhananjay Gawade, a municipal councillor from Nalasopara, who has been booked for extortion. According to police, Gawade used information obtained under the Right to Information Act to extort lakhs of rupees from local builders.

While rejecting the anticipatory bail plea of the 45-year-old councillor, justice Sandeep Shinde said, "In the case in hand, the material clearly suggests and points out his complicity in the offences alleged against him which are serious in nature."