Two prisoners arrested for extortion

Two prisoners lodged in Tihar jail have been arrested for threatening a businessman over the phone and trying to extort ₹50 lakh from him, the Delhi Police said on Saturday

Two prisoners lodged in Tihar jail have been arrested for threatening a businessman over the phone and trying to extort ₹50 lakh from him, the Delhi Police said on Saturday.

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The two men were identified as Aas Mohammed, alias Aashu Khan, and Danish, alias Tigga, both of whom are alleged members of gangster Hashim Baba’s criminal syndicate.

The gang, which largely operates out of north-east Delhi, has been involved in robberies, extortion and contract killings.

Priyanka Kashyap, deputy commissioner of police(east), said, that on June 13, a businessman in Ghazipur received a WhatsApp call, in which the caller demanded ₹50 lakh. At first, the victim dismissed the call as a prank, but filed a police complaint after a second such incident.

“Our officers analysed the source of the call and traced it to jail number 8 in Tihar. On further analysis and scrutiny of the IP address, we identified the caller as Aas Mohammed, a convicted prisoner. Aas Mohammed confessed he along with another prisoner, Danish, had made the threat call. Danish had details of the complainant because he had worked with one of the relatives of the complainant,” said Kashyap.

Police said Mohammed has been in prison since 2017 in connection with a case of robbery. He was transferred to Tihar’s jail number 8 last month, after which he met his long-time accomplice Danish, an undertrial. Mohammed has 31 criminal cases while Danish has six. The two then decided to get money by extorting it in the name of their jailed boss, Hashim Baba, police said adding that they are questioning the two men to check if the duo had extorted money from other traders.