Delhi man ropes in his Pak-based friend to extort money from businessman; held

The suspect allegedly posed as a member of the Neeraj Bawana gang and used a Pakistan-based virtual phone number for the crime.

A former driver of a south Delhi businessman was arrested on Thursday for trying to extort money from the latter allegedly with the help of a Pakistani man, police said on Friday.

The callers allegedly demanded ₹15 lakh as protection money on behalf of Bawana gang. (Representational image)

Mukesh Tiwari, 42, a resident of Madanpur Khadar, allegedly posed as a member of the notorious Neeraj Bawana gang and used a Pakistan-based virtual phone number to make the extortion calls, said Chandan Chowdhary, deputy commissioner of police (south).

Virtual phone numbers are numbers generated using an online link, making them difficult to trace. It becomes even tougher for enforcement agencies to operate when such numbers are generated abroad.

Police said that the businessman and his wife received multiple extortion calls between July 31 and August 4, with the callers allegedly demanding ₹15 lakh as protection money on behalf of Bawana gang, and hurled abuses at the victims.

A case of extortion was registered in the matter, said the DCP. “We tried to trace the location of the number from which the extortion demands were made. WhatsApp details of the virtual numbers were collected from WhatsApp and login IPs were also analysed. However, the mobile number was found to be active only on WhatsApp,” said the DCP.

While it was a Pakistan-based virtual phone number, the police found some connections between that number and another phone number active in south Delhi’s Jaitpur area.

Police subsequently zeroed down on the second number to a neighbourhood in Rohini and on Thursday arrested Tiwari.

Tiwari used to work at the businessman’s house around 12 years ago, said the DCP. “During Covid-19 pandemic, he lost most of his money, prompting him to hatch the conspiracy”, said the DCP.

Tiwari allegedly began by first befriending a Pakistani man, known so far by a single name, Khan. Tiwari then allegedly lured him into the plan to help arrange a Pakistan-based virtual phone number, police said.

While police are yet to gather complete details of the Pakistani angle, Tiwari allegedly told police that he promised Khan a share in the extortion amount if the crime was successfully executed, officers said.