Mumbai:
A Right to Information (RTI) reply has revealed that Pradip Agrawal alias Sonthalia, a hawker accused of blackmailing and showing a gun to an RPF official (see box), has extorted money from several other railway officers as well including a former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
RPF Head Constable DC Pandey, who filed the RTI and lodged a complaint regarding the matter with at least 26 authorities, said Agrawal used the RTI Act to get details of property owned by the officers and then threatened to send the incriminating documents to the CBI and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) unless they acceded to his demands.
"The complaint states that Agrawal blackmailed at least five officers, including a former Divisional Railway Manager and a DCP of the Mumbai police. He would confront the officers with the documents and ask them about their sources of income.
The officers would agree to cough up big sums when he threatened to report them to senior officials and the ACB," said Pandey.
Sources said that Agrawal began blackmailing the DCP after he renovated his office using Italian marble. He questioned the DCP about the money spent and where it came from and the officer decided to settle the matter fearing a stain on his reputation.
When Sonthalia was contacted, he said, "I demanded the property details of only those who are corrupt. I never blackmailed them. Using the RTI is my right."
On December 29, Sonthalia withdrew Rs 35,000 from the bank account of RPF official Arvind Kumar Yadav using his ATM card and told him that if he opened his mouth about the theft he would expose his past record and send incriminating documents against him to the CBI.
He had also pointed a gun at Yadav, who registered a complaint with the railway authorities in Mumbai and also at the Navghar police station in Mulund. Yadav had also, later, sought police protection citing a threat from Sonthalia.