Doctor Santosh Raut alias Amit Kumar, the alleged mastermind of the kidney racket, had received extortion calls from gangster Chhota Shakeel, the police said on Friday.

The gangster had been calling Raut since February 2005, and demanded Rs one crore. Even his wife was threatened, they said.

"Based on specific information, we had arrested two deported persons owing allegiance to the Chhota Shakeel gang from suburban Bandra on January 16, 2007 in possession of firearms. Their interrogation revealed that Shakeel had demanded Rs one crore from Raut," DCP (Detection) Deven Bharti said.

The arrested duo was deported from the United Arab Emirates in November 2006, Bharti said. "They had decided to threaten Sunita in person or fire a few rounds to frighten her on the day they were arrested," the DCP added.

The duo, identified as Tanveer and Jameer, were booked under the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and are currently in judicial custody.

Raut, who the Mumbai police suspect, is the same person as Amit Kumar, wanted by the Gurgaon police, was arrested in a kidney transplant racket in 1994 and Shakeel was under the impression that he had a thriving practice in central Mumbai.

The police also suspect that Shakeel was not aware about the divorce of Raut and Sunita following the busting of the kidney racket in which the former was arrested.