HC denies pre-arrest bail to accused in extortion case

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court has denied anticipatory bail to one of the 19 persons accused in the abduction and extortion case involving the promoters of Electrotherm Ltd and IPS officers.
Shivam Podar had sought legal protection against possible arrest by claiming innocence and on the grounds that his name did not figure when the written complaint was filed in 2015.
He called the money transaction involving him and the complainant a private one, but Justice J C Doshi did not accept this on the grounds that the money was deposited in Electrotherm’s account. The HC did not find it a fit case to exercise its power to grant protection, said Vishal Anandjiwala, who is representing the complainant, Parmanand Shirvani.
CID (crime) Kutch had booked 19 persons including six police officials and the promoters of Electrotherm for allegedly confining and torturing a company manager, Shirvani. The HC had in 2019 ordered the registration of an FIR, but this was delayed till Jan due to a Supreme Court stay on the case.
Those booked for cheating, extortion, kidnapping and illegal confinement in the case included superintendents of police Bhavna Patel and G V Barod;, deputy superintendents of police R D Desai, D S Vaghela and V J Gadhvi; police sub-inspector N K Chauhan; the company’s directors Shailesh Bhandari and Anurag Bhandari; manager Sanjay Joshi and others. They have also been booked under the Arms Act.