Two held for extorting ₹15 lakh from businessman by posing as Lawrence Bishnoi

The complainant in the case, who runs a hotel in Sector 38 and is a real estate owner, told police Thursday that he received phone calls from a man claiming to be Bishnoi on November 14

Police arrested two men Friday for allegedly making more than a dozen extortion calls to a Gurugram-based businessman by posing as gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

ACP crime Preet Pal addresses a press conference as he presents the two suspects for extorting money from a property dealer claiming to be members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, in Gurugram, India on November 19. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The complainant in the case, who runs a hotel in Sector 38 and is a real estate owner, told police Thursday that he received phone calls from a man claiming to be Bishnoi on November 14. The caller demanded ₹50 lakh as protection money and made at least 12 such calls within three days, police said.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said, “Initially the suspect had demanded ₹50 lakh but after negotiation, the amount was finalised at ₹15 lakh. The complainant decided to pay the money.”

Sangwan said the suspectasked the complainant to leave the money near Shankar Chowk in Gurugram. “The suspect knew Lawrence Bishnoi was behind the bars and that he was involved in several extortion cases. He took advantage of the gangster’s name and asked the complainant to watch videos of Bishnoi on YouTube in an attempt to frighten him,” he said.

Sangwan said the complainant dropped the bag containing ₹15 lakh near a pole and watched the suspects from a distance. “Two men in a Toyota Altis car came and picked up the bag. The complainant was shocked as he identified one of the men as Vineet Kumar, who used to work as receptionist at his hotel and was fired a few months ago. He then informed us, after which Narender Chauham, in-charge CIA-17, based on technical surveillance arrested the suspects from Badshahpur on Friday night,” said Sangwan.

During questioning, it was revealed that Kumar (27) became friends with Shahid Khan (27) while he used to visit the hotel and they hatched the plan to extort money, police said. “Kumar thought the complainant would pay money easily and would not report the matter to the police. He was observing the complainant’s movements but was not aware that a police complaint has been filed,” said Sangwan.

Police on Friday registered a case against the suspects under sections 384 (extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 34 (common intention) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code at Sadar police station.

A car, two country-made pistols, four live cartridges and mobile phones have been seized from the suspects.