E-Paper
Panchkula extortion racket: Kingpin’s son arrested from Meerut
Akash Bhalla is co-accused in the extortion racket where his father, in connivance with an ASI, extorted money from people after offering them loans, say Panchkula police
In the fourth arrest in the Panchkula extortion racket, police have nabbed Akash Bhalla, one of the main accused and son of the kingpin, Anil Bhalla.
Police said Akash was arrested from his hideout in Meerut, where he had fled since the racket was busted on May 27. He was produced in court on Saturday and taken on two-day police remand.
Unearthing the racket on May 27, Panchkula police had arrested Anil Bhalla, a financier from Sector 2; ASI Gurmez Singh, in-charge of Sector-2 Police Post, Panchkula; and Narendra Khillan of Sector 10.
However, the ASI managed to escape from police custody the next day. 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.
Also booked for cheating biz partner
Police have also booked Akash on allegations that he sold his business partner’s SUV by forging documents.
The complainant, Sikander Singh Sangwan of Sector 4, Panchkula, told the police that he ran a business and land purchase agency with Anil, Akash and his wife, Bhawna, in Panchkula.
Sangwan said while he was away at Canada in September 2018 , Aakash’s family hatched a conspiracy and stole the original documents of his Toyota Fortuner. They prepared forged documents by using his signatures, changed the vehicle number and sold it to one of their relatives.
When he confronted Akash, he promised to pay for the car, but kept delaying the payment. Then one day, he misbehaved with him and threatened to kill him while pointing a pistol, Sangwan alleged.
He said he had lodged a complaint in this regard with the SHO, CM window, in May 2021, but no action was taken.
On his complaint, police on Thursday night booked Akash under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector-5 police station.
