Attack on embassy car ‘inspires’ man’s extortion bid

Taking clue from Monday’s bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat while she was sitting in her car, a 35-year-old DVD supplier allegedly used a similar modus operandi to scare a businessman and extort R5 crore from him. The accused, identified as Gyanender Kumar alias Gyani, has been arrested.

Taking clue from Monday’s bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat while she was sitting in her car, a 35-year-old DVD supplier allegedly used a similar modus operandi to scare a businessman and extort Rs 5 crore from him. The accused, identified as Gyanender Kumar alias Gyani, has been arrested.

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Gyani procured explosive substances — potash and sulphur — from Hathras in UP and assembled two crude bombs. To scare businessman Pramod Jain, he allegedly exploded a bomb at the rear portion of Jain’s car on February 15, two days after the attack on the Israeli diplomat.

Gyani, then, started making extortion calls to Jain and threatened to kill him and his family if his demand was not met. But before he could succeed, the northwest district police nabbed him.

Gyani used to supply DVDs on rent in Pitampura and knew about Jain’s affluent lifestyle.

Romil Baniya, additional DCP (northwest), said Gyani had exploded the bomb on February 15 when the Jains were going to attend some function.

“Jain heard a loud noise from the rear side of his car, but ignored it,” said Baniya, adding that he lodged a complaint only after he started receiving extortion calls.