New Delhi, Apr 19 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Wednesday that it has arrested a man named Santosh Madhav Sawant alias Abu Sawant, an absconding accused, after he landed at the Mumbai airport from Singapore in a case related to extorting money from a builder in Mumbai.

The CBI had registered the case against the accused in 2016 on the request of the Maharashtra government.

The case was initially registered at the Tilak Nagar police station in Mumbai on the allegations that the accused had extorted Rs 20 lakh from the builder and further attempted to extort another Rs 20 lakh by giving murder threat.

The victim had alleged that the accused and their associates were extorting large sums of money from the developers, who undertook redevelopment works in Tilak Nagar, Naidu Colony, Ghatkopar and other areas of Mumbai.

Sawant was absconding since 2005. A red corner notice was issued against him through Interpol in 2012. A request for his extradition was also sent to Singapore authorities through the Ministry of External Affairs.

"On landing at Mumbai airport, the absconding accused was detained by the immigration department and subsequently he was handed over to the CBI," said a CBI official.

Sawant was produced before a trial court in Mumbai which remanded him to judicial custody till May 2.