Extortion racket busted in Chandigarh, two of Lawrence Bishnoi gang held
Chandigarh, July 22
Two members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, who have several cases registered against them, were arrested for making extortion threats to businessmen.
The suspects, identified as Banur resident Ravi Kumar (34) and Maloya resident Somdutt (34) have been booked under Sections 384, 386, 34 of the IPC and 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act at Sector-31 police station.
The police seized two country made pistols, seven live rounds, one scooter and Rs 1.57 lakh from Ravi, who had been working as a broker at the Zirakpur car bazaar.
The police said the duo had been threatening businessmen, realtors, builders, hoteliers, night club owners and liquor contractors and demanding money from them. Another gang member Deepu Banur, currently lodged in Patiala jail, is operating the extortion racket from the jail through his associate Ravi Banur and Amandeep Singh, alias Mani Rajput, and others. Deepu provided them weapons and they collected money from influential people in the city.
After the arrest of Ravi Kumar, the police got information which led to the arrest of Somdutt. Their interrogation revealed that at Deepu’s behest, they had been extorting money from city residents and using it for lending, drug smuggling and gambling. It was found that in six months, Ravi collected Rs 40-45 lakh, of which the police found documentary trail of Rs 25-30 lakh.
