'Pay Rs 10 crore or be prepared to die': Thane builder files FIR over ‘Bishnoi group’ threat calls

No arrests have been made in the case, he added.

Unidentified persons were booked for trying to extort Rs 10 crore from a prominent Thane builder after claiming to be part of the "Bishnoi group", a police official said on Sunday.

As per the complaint filed by the 60-year-old businessman at Naupada police station, he received a series of WhatsApp calls on February 11 while he was visiting Madhya Pradesh for a religious ceremony, and on answering them he was told to cough up Rs 10 crore, failing which he should be "prepared to die".

The caller, who claimed he was part of the "Bishnoi group", also told the builder that he was free to record the call and submit it to the police.

"The harassment continued on February 20, when the builder received four WhatsApp calls from an international number while he was in his office here. After he did not answer the calls, the suspect sent an audio clip on his mobile phone at 12:29 pm, which contained further death threats," the official said.

An FIR was registered on February 20 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for extortion and other offences on the basis of the businessman's complaint, WhatsApp calls and audio clips, Naupada police station senior inspector Abhay Chandranath Mahajan said.

No arrests have been made in the case, he added.