E-Paper
Three held for trying to extort ₹15 lakh from HC lawyer
Posing as members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, trio through a threat letter claimed they had received a contract to kill the lawyer
Police have arrested three men who tried to extort ₹15 lakh from a high court lawyer by claiming to be members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang that “had received a contract to kill him”.
The accused have been identified as Balwinder Singh and Naresh Kumar, both residents of Daria village, Chandigarh, and Manish, alias Sonu, of Sector 28, Chandigarh.
They were arrested on the complaint of Sanjay Badwar, a lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana high court and resident of Harmilap Nagar, Baltana.
Badwar had approached the police after he received a death threat letter via his friend Anil Pandey’s office in Baltana.
“The accused visited the office on March 31 and handed a sealed envelope to the receptionist for Badwar. On opening the letter, Badwar found a death threat note by a man claiming to be Tikra Gujjar, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Claiming to have received a contract to kill him, the accused demanded ₹15 lakh to spare his life,” said Barma Singh, in-charge, Baltana police post.
The death threat came days after some men had opened fire at Badwar’s house during the night on March 17, regarding which an FIR was lodged at the Zirakpur police station.
Following investigation, police identified the accused as Balwinder, Naresh and Manish, and arrested them. A Hyundai Accent car, bearing a Haryana registration number, which was used in the crime, was also recovered from them.
Owed lawyer’s friend ₹6.25 lakh, wanted to avoid repayment
The police official said during interrogation, Balwinder and Naresh revealed that they owed Anil Pandey ₹6.25 lakh. To avoid repayment of the load, they conspired with Manish to threaten Pandey and his friend Badwar as members of the Bishnoi gang.
Police have booked the accused under Sections 388 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at the Zirakpur police station. Further investigation is underway.
