The three family members of Anil Bhalla, the kingpin of the Panchkula extortion racket, who were arrested on Monday night, were sent to judicial custody on Tuesday.
Anil’s wife Anju Bhalla, their son Sahil’s wife Anjali Bhalla and Anjali’s brother Gaurav were caught by the police in Sector 2 while they were coming out of a bank after withdrawing cash.
Search of their Toyota Fortuner, parked near the bank, had led to the recovery of ₹4.63 crore in cash, two unlicensed .12-bore pistols, three magazines, 11 bullets and 697 gm opium, besides a bundle of gold jewellery, including chains, necklaces, pendants, earrings, rings, bangles and coins.
They were booked under the NDPS Act, Arms Act, and Prevention of Money Laundry Act later at night.
On May 27, Panchkula police had busted an extortion racket, the brainchild of Anil Bhalla, a financier from Sector 2.
Apart from Anil, two of his gang members – ASI Gurmez Singh, in-charge of Sector-2 Police Post, Panchkula; and Narendra Khillan of Sector 10 – were also arrested.
However, the ASI managed to escape from police custody the next day and was suspended along with two more cops.
Anil’s son, Aakash Bhalla, among the prime accused in the racket, remains at large.
{{/usCountry}}Anil’s son, Aakash Bhalla, among the prime accused in the racket, remains at large.
{{/usCountry}}According to police, the accused would offer loans to unsuspecting people and instead extort money by threatening to implicate them in false cases. By getting their signatures on blank papers for loans, Anil would later usurp the victims’ property, money and cars by threatening them with false cases.