The Anti-Extortion Cell of Mumbai Police, along with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, on Thursday arrested a man for making an extortion call to Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, ANI reported. Mahesh Bhatt tweeted about the call and thanked the police for catching the culprit.
On February 26, the accused – identified as 27-year-old Lucknow resident Sandeep Sahu – called the filmmaker, gave him details of his bank account and asked for Rs 50 lakh. He also threatened to kill Mahesh Bhatt’s wife Soni Razdan and daughter Alia Bhatt if the payment was not made.
Sahu, who had claimed to be a gang leader in Uttar Pradesh, then started sending Mahesh Bhatt texts and WhatsApp messages. He threatened to “fire several rounds of bullets” at Alia Bhatt and Razdan if the money was not sent over, reported India Today. The filmmaker registered a case at the Juhu police station on Wednesday under section 387 (causing a person to fear death or grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion).
In November 2014, 13 people were arrested for plotting to kill Mahesh Bhatt and his family.
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