Mangalore: With the arrest of Naufal (20) of Kunjathbail, the a total of four persons are now in custody in the smart city extortion case. Police have arrested one more accused in the Smart City office extortion case. The other three persons Iqbal (35), Hakim (24) and Isham (21), all residents of Kavoor Shanthinagar were arrested earlier.

Reportedly, all the four persons are members of Asghar Ali’s gang. Sources say that Asghar Ali resides in Dubai.

The incident for which the four were arrested took place on September 30t. The Smart City office was vandalized, allegedly by two persons, while a third waited on a bike. Later all three had fled from scene.

Reportedly, Asghar Ali had been demanding Rs.2 crores as extortion money from the smart city builders. He had made ransom calls to electrical contractor Abdul Khadar. It is learnt that he also made ransom calls after the vandalization incident, threatening of greater consequences if they failed to make the payment.

The case was investigated and arrests made under the guidance of police commissioner Hitendra and ACP Pawan. The team which led the operation included Inspectors Pramod Kumar Savithra Theja, Bharathi, Rajendra, Head Constables Radhakrishna, Mohammed, Mohan and others.