2 held for extorting Rs 45L from industrialists

Surat: The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Surat city police on Saturday arrested two persons for allegedly extorting Rs 45 lakh from industrialists of Sachin GIDC. The accused had demanded Rs 5 crore.
According to the DCB, Ajay Trivedi and Tejas Patil were allegedly blackmailing some industrialists and dyeing mill owners over the discharge of effluents from their units. The police action came after Mahendra Ramoliya, who is a director of Sachin Industrial Co-operative Society, filed a complaint.
The industrialists had also requested Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut to intervene in the matter.
On Saturday, police set a trap and accordingly the accused were called to Madhusudan Fabrics. The DCB team nabbed Trivedi and Patil when they were collecting bags carrying Rs 45 lakh.
DCP (Crime) Bhavesh Rojiya said, "We had received a complaint against Trivedi and Patil. They were blackmailing the industrialists and dyeing mill owners in the area by threatening them to complain to Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) over the discharge of effluents and industrial waste."
Rojiya said the industries dispose of their waste through two nodal agencies according to GPCB norms, so the owners approached police against the harassment by the two accused. "The two accused had asked for Rs 5 crore but later settled for Rs 45 lakh,'' he said, adding that they seized the extortion money we arrested the two.
The two accused had also demanded that they be paid Rs 11 lakh every year on regular basis.