AC technician held for extortion in Mohali

Mohali, January 4

The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) has arrested a 20-year-old AC technician for making extortion calls to a Mohali-based pharmaceutical company owner by posing as a foreign-based gangster, said Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav today.

Suspect Suraj, a resident of Maloya Colony, Chandigarh, was arrested from Verka Chowk here, when he along with his aide, Mandeep Singh (32) of Mangewal village in Anandpur Sahib, was going on a bike to collect extortion money. The police have recovered two mobile phones and a motorcycle without a registration number plate from their possession.

The owner of the pharmaceutical company had lodged a complaint with the police claiming to have received phone calls from a man claiming to be gangster Goldy Brar on December 30. The caller demanded Rs 30 lakh and threatened to kill him if he failed to give the protection money.

DGP Yadav said following the complaint, the SSOC of Mohali started investigations and arrested Suraj, who was using the WhatsApp number of his aide Mandeep for extortion calls. Suraj worked as an AC technician, while Mandeep was a taxi driver, he said.

The DGP cautioned people against fake extortion calls and urged them to inform the police immediately. Recent investigations into such cases have revealed a large number of calls in the name of gangsters were being made by those who had no association with such gangs.

Ashwani Kapur, AIG, SSOC, Mohali, said preliminary investigations revealed Suraj while going to repair ACs at homes, shops or companies would identify affluent people as potential targets and note down their details to give victims the impression their activities were being monitored. This enabled him to make the victim a soft target to extort money.

Modus operandi

• AC technician Suraj used his aide Mandeep Singh’s WhatsApp account to demand Rs 30L from owner of Mohali-based pharma firm
• He used to identify affluent people as potential targets while visiting their premises to repair ACs
• He would note down their details to give victims the impression their activities were being monitored