A court in Thane has acquitted three men accused of attempting to extort money and conspiring to murder a man, citing lack of substantial evidence to support the charges. According to PTI, Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal passed the order on March 4, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt. A copy of the order was made available on Monday.

As per PTI, the prosecution alleged that the accused, identified as Mohmmed Arafat alias Guddu alias Sayko alias Chikna Arif Lokhandwala (40), Shakir Umardin Mansoori (46), and Javed Umardin Mansoori (40), all residents of Shanti Nagar in the Mira Road area of Maharashtra’s Thane district, conspired to extort Rs 25 lakh from the complainant. The alleged conspiracy took place between December 5, 2021, and March 20, 2022.