Two nabbed for extortion bid

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, December 7

The Delhi Police today arrested two men for attempting to extort Rs 25 lakh from a garment seller in northeast Delhi by making a video call, brandishing a pistol.

Main Conspirator

The main conspirator in the case was also nabbed by the Haryana Police in another case of dacoity and had a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.

“Complainant Nasir Ali, a garment businessman from the Jafrabad area of northeast Delhi, received a video call from an unknown number. The caller seemed to be in Canada,” the police said.

The police said the accused used an android application that makes calls using international phone numbers. The accused, identified as Sadab (30) and Ashfaq (36), both residents of Maujpur village, demanded money and threatened to kill him.

DCP (North East) Joy Tirkey said, “On November 25, a PCR call was received at the Jafrabad police station regarding an extortion call of Rs 25 lakh in lieu of the victim’s life.”

“The caller also threatened the trader that he would be shot down the next morning, in case, their demand is not met. An FIR was registered and the investigation began accordingly.” he added.

“During examination of CCTV footages, a car was noticed without registration number plate with four occupants, parked near the shop of the complainant prior to the day of extortion call,” the police said.

The police trailed the car’s route and found two suspected persons disembarking from the vehicle near Ghonda Chowk at Maujpur.

The police nabbed them after conducting multiple raids at their possible hideouts. “They admitted to their involvement in the crime. Sadab runs a factory of ironing garments in bulk while Ashfaq is his employee,” the DCP said.

The police said they revealed that they were in contact with a person named, Vikash, who was the main conspirator. Vikash asked them to find a soft target in their area for extortion.

“After informing Vikash about Nasir, they accompanied him in the car and showed him Nasir’s shop on November 24. They conspired together to earn money through extortion.” a police official said. Besides, their car has also been seized.