Mumbai: Following their arrest in the builder extortion case, by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Mumbai Crime branch, in a fresh development, on Wednesday, top police informer Salim Maharaj have been booked under MCOCA for extorting ₹2 crore from a Byculla-based builder.

Lakdawala and Salim arrested by the Crime branch on January 27, were produced before the Special MCOCA Court on Wednesday, and remanded in police custody till February 15.

Even as seeking to extend the custody of the accused, the police said Salim had provided information, contact number and addresses of the residence and office of the builder to Lakdawala and updated him about the victim’s movement through an app.

According to Public Prosecutor Jaysingh Desai, they required the accused’s custody to get details about the app which Lakdawala and Salim were using. He also said AEC needs to trace how the extortion money was sent to Lakdawala, how it was used, and whether the ill-gotten money was invested in property.

Lakdawala’s lawyer, Devanand Manerkar, opposed the custody, stating the accused have been in police custody from January 8 in the same case and the same agency has been probing the case. Manerkar submitted that the crime branch has again cited the same reason which they had earlier stated to get a week’s custody of the accused.

Meanwhile Lakdawala has been booked in 31 cases of extortion. He was arrested from Patna, Bihar, on January 8.

News Edit by K.V. Raman