Extortion racket being run from Tihar jail busted, three held

The police have identified the arrested mastermind as Mahesh alias Mannu, 39, a resident of Karol Bagh. The police said he was previously involved in two murder cases, one attempt to murder case and several cases of assault and illegal possession of arms.

The Delhi Police on Sunday said they arrested three men who were allegedly running an extortion racket from Tihar Jail in Delhi. The police said the arrested men included the mastermind who would allegedly demand money from builders and businessmen over the phone from inside the jail and then direct his men outside to threaten the targets until they paid. The man had recently asked a builder in Karol Bagh to pay him ₹20 lakh.

The man had recently asked a builder in Karol Bagh to pay him Rs 20 lakh. (HT Archive)

The police have identified the arrested mastermind as Mahesh alias Mannu, 39, a resident of Karol Bagh. The police said he was previously involved in two murder cases, one attempt to murder case and several cases of assault and illegal possession of arms. He has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2014. His two aides were identified as Bhanu Pratap, 21, from Sangam Vihar and Ashok Kumar, 40, from Karol Bagh.

According to the police, on November 28, 2019, one Jugal Kishore, 62, of Karol Bagh, who ran a construction business, alleged that he was receiving multiple WhatsApp voice calls by some Mahesh asking him to pay ₹20 lakh as extortion amount. He said the caller asked him to pay the amount in instalments of ₹50,000 each and also threatened him against reporting the matter to the police and said he would face dire consequences if he did so.

The police said that when the builder refused to pay, two men fired a bullet outside his house the next week. Mahesh then called him again and told him that if he didn’t pay the money he’d be shot dead, the police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Sanjay Bhatia said that during the investigation, call records of the number from which the builder had been called and of many connected numbers were checked. During technical surveillance, a team from the Karol Bagh police station finally zeroed in on one Ashok Kumar suspected of being involved in threatening the builder. He was immediately arrested. “His interrogation further revealed that another man, Bhanu Pratap, was also involved in the extortion bid. Our team raided a hideout in Karol Bagh and arrested Pratap. During questioning, the duo disclosed that both of them were promised good monetary returns and that they were acting on Mahesh’s directions. They also admitted to having opened fire outside the builder’s house,” Bhatia said.

The DCP said that further probe revealed that Mahesh has been operating the extortion racket from inside the jail. “Mahesh who was already in jail was arrested in this case also after obtaining permission of the court. His remand has been sought to probe how he was able to access phones inside the jail. Jail authorities are also being informed,” the officer said.