Rajkot: Junagadh police have arrested two men in connection with an alleged extortion attempt targeting Junagadh MLA Sanjay Koradia.

The two accused who have been arrested are Imran alias John Simari, a resident of Veraval in Gir Somnath district, and Ronak Thakor, a resident of Ahmedabad. The alleged mastermind, Samir Ringbloch, is believed to be in Congo and remains absconding.

According to the police, Thakor, who operates an event management firm in Ahmedabad, came in contact with Ringbloch during his visits to Junagadh. Simari, who runs a soda shop, acted as an informant for Ringbloch. Both arrested men did not know each other. Thakor was reportedly supposed to collect the extortion money.

Police said both Ringbloch and Simari have previous cases registered against them for attempted murder and criminal intimidation. The authorities have not disclosed how the extortion money was to be distributed among the accused.

Sanjay Koradia, the BJP MLA, stated in his FIR that he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown international number on October 26. The caller allegedly used abusive language and demanded ₹30 lakh. The following day, he received a message from the same number reiterating the demand, prompting him to block the contact. However, on October 28, he received another WhatsApp call from a different number. The caller then shared two mobile numbers belonging to Ronak Thakor and instructed Koradia to send the money to Ahmedabad through a courier. DeshGujarat