Thane: The city police has arrested a 42-year-old man, who acted as a panch witness in several cases, for allegedly trying to extort Rs 10 lakh from a businessman here, an official said today.  

The accused, Mahesh Thakkar, allegedly demanded Rs 30 lakh from the 40-year-old transport operator on November 16 for not disclosing his unlawful dealings to the police, Rabodi police station's inspector R M Somwanshi said.  

He also threatened the businessman with dire consequences if he failed to give the amount, Somwanshi said.   Later, the accused and the transporter negotiated the deal for Rs 10 lakh. Thakkar also allegedly took away Rs 1.5 lakh that the businessman was carrying at that time, he said. 

Last evening, when the transporter went to give the balance amount to the accused at a hotel here, the personnel of the Thane police's anti-extortion cell nabbed the latter, the inspector said. The accused was arrested and booked under IPC sections pertaining to extortion and criminal intimidation, he said.   According to a senior police official, Thakkar was police's panch witness in several cases. PTI