A decade after a builder lodged a complaint alleging that a real estate agent had tried to extort Rs 5 lakh from him, the Kalachowki police finally arrested the accused on Monday.

In August 1998, Ramesh Shah, a builder, had bought a 392-sq-ft plot in Vile Parle. A few days after the sale, Parag Kotadia (50), a real estate agent, had allegedly claimed that he had a stake in the land.

“Kotadia had claimed that the previous owner of the land had sold some of its portions to him for Rs 10 lakh. He had also asked the developer to pay him some money, if he wanted Kotadia to hand over his rights over the land. However, Shah refused to give money claiming that the previous owner of the land had handed over all the documents of ownership to him. Kotadia on the other hand did not have any documents to prove his claims,” said Police Inspector Bhimashankar Dhole of the Kalachowki police station.

Kotadia had allegedly threatened Shah several times with dire consequences, if he did not give money. Enraged at this, Shah had lodged a complaint with the police. “But after learning about the complaint, Kotadia had gone into hiding,” said Dhole. However, the police had booked Kotadia for extortion threats.

Senior Police Inspector Ramesh Poman of the Kalachowki police station said that over the years, Kotadia was termed as an absconder and the detection team was entrusted with the responsibility of tracing him. “Kotadia kept evading arrest and also applied for anticipatory bail many times. His last bail plea was rejected by the Bombay High Court. Last Sunday, after receiving a tip-off that Kotadia was in the city, we immediately dispatched a team and nabbed him,” said Poman.

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