2 held over extortion racket, demanding ₹3 cr from Dwarka bizman

Two men were arrested on Sunday for allegedly running an extortion racket and demanding ₹3 crore from a businessman in Dwarka in the name of gangster Kapil Sangwan, police said

Two men were arrested on Sunday for allegedly running an extortion racket and demanding ₹3 crore from a businessman in Dwarka in the name of gangster Kapil Sangwan, police said.

The case came to light after an FIR was registered at Bindapur police station on September 6 following an alleged demand for ₹3 crore from a businessman. (Representational image)

According to police, Rohit Arora, 47, and Sudhir Gahlot alias Chota Nandu, 44, allegedly made extortion calls to at least three businessmen in Dwarka, threatening them and their families with serious consequences if they failed to pay.

Police said the accused used virtual mobile numbers created through an application using fake email IDs. Third accused, Ajay -- who is a technical expert and helped them create the fake numbers -- is a resident of Madhya Pradesh and was recently deported from Canada, officials said, added that they are looking for him.

The case came to light after an FIR was registered at Bindapur police station on September 6 following an alleged demand for ₹3 crore from a businessman.

Following technical analysis and manual surveillance, Arora was apprehended from Sector 11, Dwarka, on September 23. Gahlot was arrested from Dwarka the following day at Arora’s instance, police said. Six mobile phones have been recovered.

Police said interrogation revealed that the duo were facing financial difficulties and had allegedly suffered losses in cricket betting. They allegedly decided to extort money from businessmen by using Sangwan’s name.

“The accused were using virtual numbers to make extortion calls and were also planning to carry out firing at the residences and business premises of the targets to create fear and compel them to pay,” said HGS Dhaliwal, special commissioner (Crime).

The officer said the accused had identified around two-three businessmen in Dwarka as targets and had allegedly arranged shooters to carry out firing outside their homes.

According to police, Gahlot had provided Arora with three numbers of prospective targets and arranged a mobile phone for him. He also allegedly introduced Arora to the technical expert who helped create virtual numbers.

Police said Arora made threat calls to three persons in the last two weeks of August, demanding money and threatening them with serious consequences, if they did not comply.

The accused allegedly planned to use the extorted money to clear their debts and establish their own extortion network in Sangwan’s name, police said.