E-Paper
Two held by Ludhiana police for making extortion calls posing as gangsters
Duo was arrested by Ludhiana police from Bihar & Chhattisgarh; had extorted ₹1cr by posing as aides of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, say police
The Ludhiana police, with the help of their counterparts in Bihar and Chhattisgarh, have arrested two men who had duped residents of districts from all over Punjab of at least ₹1 crore by making threat calls impersonating as aides of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, the main suspect in the murder of singer turned politician Sidhu Moose Wala.
The accused have been identified as Afzal Abdullah of Chhapra, Bihar, and Shakti Singh of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Police said that other aides of the duo and the kingpin of the gang have been identified and a hunt is on for their arrest. Police have recovered three mobile phones from them.
At least 25 bank accounts in which the accused used to receive money from people they had cheated have also been identified. Police have recovered ₹11.76 lakh from five accounts, while details of others are awaited.
Police commissioner Kaustubh Sharma said that the police had received various complaints about extortion calls from gangsters, following which a special investigation team (SIT) was formed comprising additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) Jagatpreet Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP, cyber crime) Jaspreet Singh and sub-inspector Jatinder Singh, in-charge, cyber cell. The team traced the accused to Chhattisgarh and Bihar and arrested them.
“After the murder Moose Wala on 29 May in Mansa, the accused used to threaten residents of Ludhiana and other districts of Punjab using virtual numbers on Whatsapp. They posed as members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang and threatened to kill them if they didn’t pay them,” said Sharma.
