Extortion racket being run from Tihar jail busted

The Delhi Police special cell on Thursday claimed to have busted an organised extortion syndicate that was allegedly being run from the Tihar Jail.

The Delhi Police special cell on Thursday claimed to have busted an organised extortion syndicate that was allegedly being run from the Tihar Jail. A close aide of Delhi’s most wanted extortionist Neeraj Bawana, Naveen alias Bali and three others have been arrested for allegedly running the gang.

A special cell officer said Bali, who was lodged in Tihar jail, was running the racket with the help of Vishal, Nizam (member of the Bawana gang) and Santosh Bahadur, a resident of Nepal.

Rajiv Ranjan, DCP (special cell) said, “While Bali was arrested from jail, his three associates were nabbed on March 10 following a tip-off. With these arrests, we have got very close to arresting Neeraj Bawana. We are confident of nabbing him soon.”

Three loaded firearms, mobile phone instruments and SIM cards used in the crime have been recovered from their possession.

The arrests, Ranjan said, came following information that some criminals were trying to extort money from a businessman in Delhi. “The information was developed and it was learnt that Naveen Bali, presently lodged in Tihar jail and earlier in the Faridabad jail, was the mastermind of the extortion racket. He has previously been involved in 14 cases of murder, robbery, dacoity, abduction, extortion and arms act,” Ranjan said.

On March 10, the special cell team informed that the active associates of the accused Bali would come to Sector-17, Rohini. It was also learnt that they would be carrying illegal weapons for threatening one Lalit Mathur, a complainant, at his office at Sector-11, Rohini.

“Accordingly, a trap was laid and the three suspects were nabbed while they were travelling in a car with black-filmed windows. The three accused had illegal sophisticated loaded weapons,” said a senior investigating officer.

Later on, a production warrant was issued against Bali and he was arrested from Tihar jail.