Bihar man, wanted in murder and extortion cases, arrested from north Delhi

Police said that the suspect, Rupam Singh from Motihari East Champaran, who was arrested on Monday, is a school friend of Suman Jha, who runs an extortion gang in Bihar and is involved in 22 cases of murder and extortion.

A 23-year-old man from Bihar, allegedly involved in four murder cases including that of the chairman of an agricultural cooperative society, and two extortion cases, was arrested from north Delhi in a joint operation carried out by the Delhi Police’s crime branch and the Bihar Police.

Singh, who secured bail in two murder cases in 2019, was wanted for his alleged involvement in two more murders between December 2020 and March 2021. (Getty Images. Representative image)

Police said that the suspect, Rupam Singh from Motihari East Champaran, who was arrested on Monday, is a school friend of Suman Jha, who runs an extortion gang in Bihar and is involved in 22 cases of murder and extortion.

According to police, Singh allegedly used to make extortion calls on WhatsApp using an international number and even demanded ₹10 lakh from a businessman dealing in furniture in Bihar’s Motihari.

Singh, who secured bail in two murder cases in 2019, was wanted for his alleged involvement in two more murders between December 2020 and March 2021.

In July this year, Singh allegedly tried to extort ₹2 lakh from another businessman in Motihari, following which a case was registered at the local police station, said joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar.

Joint CP Kumar said that on Monday, the Bihar Police shared information about the presence of Singh in north Delhi’s Gopalpur near Wazirabad.

“Accordingly, a joint raid was conducted and Singh was arrested from a rented room in Gopalpur. He was handed over to the Bihar Police for further legal action,” said Kumar, adding that Singh had made the last extortion call on Sunday.

Police said that Singh dropped out of college, where he was pursuing an arts course, in 2017.

He joined Jha’s gang in March 2019, and soon he, along with another gang member, killed two men in Ghorasahan in East Champaran. He also allegedly tried to murder his relative in May 2019.

Thereafter, in August 2019, Singh was arrested with illegal firearms but he managed to secure bail in all the three cases in November 2020.

“A month later, he, along with three others, killed one Ranjeet Singh Thekedar. In March 2021, Singh and two others murdered Pawan Gupta, a Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) chairman in Motihari, which led to a law and order situation in the area. Thereafter, he made extortion calls to two businessmen for ₹2 lakh and ₹10 lakh respectively in July and August,” added the joint CP.