3 held over ₹10 cr extortion bid from developer

Ghaziabad police arrested three individuals for attempting to extort ₹10 crore from a developer, using threats and false gang claims.

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad police’s crime branch have arrested three people – a woman and two men -- for allegedly trying to extort ₹10 crore from a developer, a resident of Indirapuram, officials said on Wednesday.

Police said the caller falsely claimed being a member of the criminal gang from Gautam Budh Nagar. (Representative photo)

Police identified the three suspects as a 44-year-old woman, a 39-year-old man, and a 25-year-old man, all residents of Wave City. The two men are cousins and deal in property, officials said.

Officials said that the arrests followed a police complaint filed at the Indirapuram police station on Tuesday by a developer, Arpit Gupta, who has a construction site in Noida. He alleged to have received calls from someone demanding ₹10 crore ransom while issuing threats to harm his family.

Police said the caller falsely claimed being a member of the criminal gang from Gautam Budh Nagar.

“Our teams arrested three suspects, including the woman, in connection with the case. The 39-year-old suspect told police that he had employed the 44-year-old woman suspect at Gupta’s office in Noida about six months ago. About 10 days ago, Gupta allegedly asked her to leave the job. Thereafter, the aggrieved woman, who knew about Gupta’s business dealings, met the 39-year-old, and both hatched a plan to demand extortion,” Piyush Kumar Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (crime), told HT.

Officials said they procured a used mobile phone to make calls and also roped in the 25-year-old man.

“Thereafter, they went to different locations in Gautam Budh Nagar to call Gupta and demand ₹10 crore ransom on April 10, 11, and 13. They also threatened to harm his family. Several police teams were formed, and three suspects were arrested from Wave City. The mobile phone and SIM card used for calling were also recovered,” the additional DCP added.

Police said that the 39-year-old suspect was known to complainant Gupta through business dealings, so he roped in his cousin (the 25-year-old) to make the calls to avoid being recognised by his voice.

“The suspect (the 25-year-old) called Gupta posing as members of the gang and used its leader’s name to frighten Gupta. During the investigation, it was found out that the suspects were not linked to the gang. They just used the name to instil fear,” said Dhawal Jaiswal, DCP (city zone).