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Chandigarh: Hotelier received ₹2-cr extortion call before firing, say police
Chandigarh Police have registered an FIR against gangster Lucky Patial on the complaint of Manpreet Singh, 38, son of hotel owner Tara Singh Saini
Mohali-based businessman, whose house came under fire on late Tuesday night, had received extortion calls asking to pay ₹2 crore protection money few days earlier, police probe has revealed.
The police have registered an FIR against gangster Lucky Patial on the complaint of Manpreet Singh, 38, son of hotel owner Tara Singh Saini. Saini owns Regenta Place Hotel at TDI City, Sector 119, Mohali, and is a resident of Sector 38C.
Police said they have detained a few suspects for questioning, but added that they have not found any evidence so far to confirm that the firing was executed on the gangster’s instruction.
In his complaint, Manpreet told police that on October 23 at about 8.56 pm, he received a WhatsApp call from an international number. The caller introduced himself as Lucky Patial and threatened him, saying that if he wanted to “work peacefully”, he must pay money, or else his entire family would be killed.
Saini is the cousin brother of Hardeep Singh, who is a MC councillor from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Singh disconnected and blocked the number and informed the Mohali senior superintendent of police about the threat. However, he continued to receive such calls, including one from another number where the caller identified himself as Arvind and demanded ₹2 crore.
On Tuesday morning, at around 9 am, Singh stepped out of his residence and found four empty cartridges lying on the road. On inspecting his house, he noticed three bullet marks on the outer wall, one bullet hit on the main gate, which damaged the latch and fibre sheet, two bullet marks on a Mahindra Thar parked outside, owned by his tenant.
CCTV cameras installed at the house showed two helmetless motorcycle-borne assailants firing towards the house. “Had any family member been outside at that time, the bullets could have taken a life,” Singh said, alleging that the attack was carried out on the directions of gangster Lucky Patial to force him to pay the ransom.
After verifying CCTV footage, evidence and the complainant’s statement, police registered a case at police station 39 under sections 109 (attempt to murder), 308(4) (extortion), 351(3) & 3(5) (criminal intimidation), 61(B) (criminal conspiracy) and sections 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act against Lucky Patial and unidentified accomplices.
