Three men who had been arrested by Kasna police nearly ten days ago have now been accused of extorting nearly Rs 35 lakh from a retired NTPC official and a second case has been registered against them at Beta 2 police station.
The Bhati brothers — Devesh and Pankaj Bhati— and their accomplice Sunny had been arrested by the Kasna police in connection with the murder of 22-year-old Aditya Soni who had gone missing from the Site 5 industrial area on July 5. Aditya’s mother had filed a missing person’s complaint, which was later converted to a murder case. His body had been found in Mathura on July 11 after which the suspects had been nabbed. Police officials had said that Sunny was friends with the suspect and had had a drunken argument that turned ugly . The Bhati brothers were nabbed on July 13 while Sunny was nabbed on July 23.
A day before Sunny’s arrest, the second victim, retired NTPC official Chhotan lal Sahay (61), had approached police.
“I retired from a managerial post in NTPC in April, 2019, after which I started property consulting for a few friends and acquaintances in Delta 1. The Bhati brothers and Sunny were also working as property dealers and that is how we came in contact. One day in September, they took me in their car on the pretext of showing me a property,” said Sahay.
{{/usCountry}}“I retired from a managerial post in NTPC in April, 2019, after which I started property consulting for a few friends and acquaintances in Delta 1. The Bhati brothers and Sunny were also working as property dealers and that is how we came in contact. One day in September, they took me in their car on the pretext of showing me a property,” said Sahay.
{{/usCountry}}He said that the trio held him at gunpoint and threatened his family and demanded that he give them whatever cash he had in his account.
“However, I told them that my account was joint with my wife’s and giving cash would not be possible. They took three post dated cheques from me worth Rs 16.2 lakh. Then they dropped me and warned me against reporting the incident to anyone,” said the victim.
Eventually, the suspects, took nearly Rs 35 lakh from the victim, in various instalments. Sahay said that he was too scared to approach police and it was only after the arrest of the brothers was he was able to seek legal help.
“His complaint came to us only a day before Sunny’s arrest. Soafter Sunny was nabbed, we were able to question him and he confessed to the whole thing. If it becomes necessary, we will take them on remand for more questioning,” said Vishal Pandey, additional deputy commissioner of police, zone 3.
He said that the money had been traced and a probe in the matter is underway.
The suspects were booked at the Beta 2 police station under section 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.