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Panchkula extortion racket: Kingpin’s accomplice nabbed in fifth arrest
According to police, the suspects would offer loans to unsuspecting people and instead extort money by threatening to implicate them in false cases
Making the fifth arrest in the Panchkula extortion racket, police have nabbed an architect, who was an accomplice of the kingpin, Anil Bhalla.
Identified as Rohit Bains, the accused is a resident of Sector 27-C, Chandigarh.
Unearthing the racket on May 27, police had arrested Anil Bhalla, a financier from Sector 2, Panchkula; ASI Gurmez Singh, in-charge of the Sector-2 Police Post, Panchkula; and Narendra Khillan of Sector 10, Panchkula.
Two weeks later, Anil’s son Akash Bhalla was also arrested from Meerut, where he had been hiding since the racket was busted.
According to police, Anil, in connivance with the ASI, would offer loans to unsuspecting people and instead extort money by threatening to implicate them in false cases.
They would also collect their signatures on blank papers for loans and usurp their property, cars and money. Since 2016-17, around 180 such victims, primarily from Panchkula, Mohali, Ambala and Fatehabad, have approached the police.
ACP Surender Kumar Yadav said an architect by qualification, Rohit knew Anil and Narendra for the past nine years.
“After Anil got blank cheques from the victims, he would give those to Rohit, who would fill large amounts in the cheque and present them for encashment knowing they will bounce. He would then file a complaint against the victims and intimidate them through the police,” the ACP said.
