Promoter under cops’ scanner

Mumbai: Crime branch officials will summon the chief promoter and a few others linked to an Antop Hill project for questioning following the arrest of incarcerated gangster Chhota Rajan’s alleged aide D.K. Rao on Thursday. The persons to be summoned are suspected of having alleged past association with the Rajan gang and having had a role in getting a SRA consultant out from the project at the behest of the developer.

The police said the list of promoters was being made based on the statement of Rao. The police arrested Rao for demanding Rs 50 lakh extortion from a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) consultant asking him to get off the project.

“The role of chief promoter (name withheld) is under the scanner. The act of targeting and extorting money from the redevelopment consultant seems to have been done at the behest of the developer,” said a crime branch officer.

The police has learnt that the dispute and extortion demand date back to 2014. Since then, there has been a change of developer. The officials said that the same is also suspected to have been orchestrated by Rao.

The police will question the chief promoter and the developer of the project soon. The officials suspect that some of the promoters of the project are also associated with Rajan’s Sahyadri Mitra Mandal (Ganesh mandal) based in Tilak Nagar.

Rao had been out of prison since July 2016 following acquittal in a extortion case.