PUNE: Pimpri-Chinchwad police arrested a 28-year-old man on Tuesday for running an extortion racket, officers familiar with the case said on Wednesday. The Crime Branch’s Anti-Extortion Cell laid a trap after a businessman filed a complaint that a local criminal was threatening him to pay ‘protection money’ or face “elimination”.Pimpri-Chinchwad police arrested 28-year-old man on Tuesday for running an extortion racket, officers familiar with the case said on Wednesday. (Getty Images (PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))The businessman, Shrikant Shamrao Babar (44), a resident of Samarth Nagar, New Sangvi, runs a private security agency which supplies guards to commercial units. In his complaint filed on Tuesday, Babar stated that between June 25 and June 29, a local goon named Mahesh Sakharam Shirole (28) had made threatening calls to him and his firm’s supervisor, Sandeep Kanase.According to the complaint, Shirole initially demanded ₹10 lakh which was reduced to ₹6 lakh in subsequent calls. Shirole threatened to shut down Babar’s security business and “finish him off” if he failed to pay. Fearing for his life, Babar agreed to pay a first installment of ₹3,00,000 on June 30.Meanwhile, Babar approached the Anti-Extortion Cell, which chalked out a plan to nab the alleged extortionist. A police team prepared six currency stacks consisting of both original and counterfeit notes. They tied the entire dummy stack with rubber bands, sealed it inside a plastic bag, and gave it to supervisor Kanase for delivery to the extortionist.The police team also marked an active perimeter around the pre-arranged handover location. At 5:50 pm on Tuesday, the accused arrived near Magazine Chowk on Alandi-Pune Road in Dighi. As he accepted the plastic bag containing the currency bait from Kanase, the waiting police personnel nabbed him and created a formal spot seizure report in the presence of independent witnesses.Police also seized cash, vehicles, and other paraphernalia from the accused, collectively valued at ₹11,06,000.Rohidas Pawar, DCP (Crime), Pimpri Chinchwad Police, said, “The accused was threatening the victim and trying to extort money from him. Accordingly, we laid the trap and arrested the accused.”A case was registered at Dighi Police Station under sections 308(2) and 308(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Further investigation is ongoing.