Army man’s son held for ‘extortion’

The son of a retired army officer has been arrested along with two others from Ashok Vihar in northwest Delhi for allegedly extorting money from a Mumbai-based businessman, police said. HT Correspondent reports.

The son of a retired army officer has been arrested along with two others from Ashok Vihar in northwest Delhi for allegedly extorting money from a Mumbai-based businessman, police said.

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The gang used to track advertisements of missing persons in newspapers. They contacted the family members, claiming that they had kidnapped them and then extorted money, police said.

The arrested were Vikram Khanna—son of a former soldier convicted for life in 1998 in a murder case and who jumped parole, Mahesh, a driver, and Mool Chand.

“They first searched advertisements in newspapers and then contacted family members. They call their family members to their places to avoid police,” said DCP (north-west) NS Bundela.

The three men were arrested after a Navi Mumbai businessman, Abhimanyu Bhalla, claimed he received a call from one Rajesh Kapoor on June 13 who demanded Rs 1 lakh for the release of his mother Suman Bhalla, who was missing.

A trap was laid and the three were arrested. Khanna later said he had read about Suman Bhalla from newspapers.