Six held for Rs 5-cr extortion bid

Six men, including a disgruntled business partner, were arrested for allegedly attempting to extort R5 crore from a Delhi-based businessman, the special cell said on Sunday.

Six men, including a disgruntled business partner, were arrested for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 5 crore from a Delhi-based businessman, the special cell said on Sunday.

Identified as Sanjay Jain, 39, a real estate developer from Rajasthan's Neemrana, the accused had hired Sanjay, 31, Naveen, 21, Ramkesh 20, Vikas Sharma, 40, to settle scores with his estranged financier-cum-partner, an officer said. His brother Vinay, 42, was also involved in the crime.

"On March 9, Mukesh Aggarwal who stays in east Delhi's Ram Vihar, received an extortion call demanding Rs 5 crore, with the caller threatening to kill him if he failed to pay up within three days," said an officer.

According to the police, a team was formed to trace the criminals behind the extortion threat even as another telephonic threat was received by the complainant. The caller, police said, had told the complainant that he had received orders from a 'bhai' to kill him if the payment was not made.

A team was deployed to trace the gang and enquiries revealed that some people from Harayana's Jind were behind the extortion calls. Raids were conducted and Ramkesh, whom police traced to northwest Delhi's Narela, was nabbed.

"His interrogation revealed that he had been promised a share of the proceeds of the crime by one Naveen, who is a property dealer in Jind. Later, Naveen was also arrested," said the officer.

Naveen disclosed that he had procured the SIM cards which had been used to make the calls at the instance of one Sanjay of Rohtak. The accused trio was arrested on April 3, produced at the concerned court and interrogated in police custody.

Their interrogation, police said, revealed the names of Sanjay and Vinay Jain as the masterminds of the extortion attempt. On April 6, both the Jain brothers, too, were arrested. Vinay had a business dispute with Aggarwal, police said.