Three men extort ₹30 lakh from bizman, arrested from Dwarka

The police checked the the address registered against the phone numbers used to make the calls, but that did not help. The police then laid a trap.

Three men thought they got away with extorting ₹30 lakh cash from a businessman. But, their relief was short-lived as a police team, lying in wait for them, swooped on them in west Delhi’s Dwarka, as soon as they got their hands on the money in the early hours of Tuesday.

Three men extort ₹30 lakh from bizman, arrested from Dwarka

Two of three alleged extortionists turned out to be agents of separate finance firms that provided loans to customers at an electronics shop owned by the targeted businessman, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said.

The Palam showroom owner had received the first of many extortion calls on Saturday. “The caller demanded ₹30 lakh if the businessman cared about his and his family’s safety. He immediately alerted the police who formed multiple teams to crack the case,” the DCP said.

The police checked the the address registered against the phone numbers used to make the calls, but that did not help. The police then laid a trap.

The second call was received on Monday. The businessman was told to deliver the money at Jama Masjid, said the DCP. “He was able to convince the callers to collect the money from Dwarka Mod,” the officer said.

The businessman left in his car with the cash and a police team in plainclothes followed him.

When he reached the designated spot at Dwarka Mod around 1am, police noticed three men on two motorcycles following the car. “One motorcyclist intercepted the car before his associates knocked on the window to signal for the cash bag,” the officer said.

The businessman handed over the bag. “They confirmed the amount before speeding away. We were prepared and nabbed all three of them. The money was recovered and no one was hurt,” the officer said.

The arrested men were identified as Sachin Kumar Gupta, 34, Sunil Kumar Khari, 36, and Rahul Kumar, 27. The officer said the extortion was Gupta’s idea as he was in debt. “Gupta roped in Khari to help him. Khari further sought Kumar’s help,” the officer said.