Pune: BJP leader Ganesh Bidkar receives ransom call, case filed

Recently, a contractor in Pune received a fake call claiming to be from Muralidhar Mohol, the former mayor of Pune and state BJP general secretary, demanding Rs 3 crore as ransom. Two individuals were arrested in connection with this incident. On March 30, Ganesh Bidkar, a former corporator of Pune and BJP leader, received a WhatsApp call demanding Rs 25 lakh in ransom, and a case has been registered with the Pune city police cyber cell.

A complaint has been lodged by Ganesh Bidkar, a BJP leader and former corporator residing in Somwar Peth. According to the complaint, while participating in the Shriram Jayanti procession on March 30, 2023, at 9:30 PM, Bidkar received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The caller began abusing Bidkar in a mixture of Hindi and Marathi languages and threatened to tarnish his political image, defame him, and destroy his political career if he did not pay a ransom of Rs 25 lakh.

Following Bidkar’s complaint, a case has been filed at the Pune police cyber cell under sections 384, 504, and 507 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against an unknown accused, and a further probe is underway by police inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant.