Five people were arrested in Delhi and Noida for allegedly trying to extort at least a crore from Union minister of state Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni on Friday, Delhi Police said.
The accused – four of whom were arrested from Noida and one from Delhi – allegedly made at least four to five voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls to the minister last week, they added.
According to police, Mishra in his complaint on December 17 alleged that he received around four to five calls from unidentified people who claimed to have “incriminating” videos related to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case in which his son, Ashish, is facing murder charge along with 12 others.
Ashish is the main accused in the incident in which an SUV allegedly rammed into four farmers and a journalist in Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. In the ensuing violence, two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and the driver of the SUV were killed.
“The minister informed police that the five men were blackmailing him. Following his complaint, a case was registered at North Avenue police station,” an officer said, seeking anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}“The minister informed police that the five men were blackmailing him. Following his complaint, a case was registered at North Avenue police station,” an officer said, seeking anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}The officer added that they have approached Uttar Pradesh Police to check the criminal record of the four accused from Noida.
Police, however, said they are yet to recover any videos related to the incident from the five accused.
Another officer, on condition of anonymity, said all the accused were adults. While two of them were students of Class 12, the other two worked in call centres. The fifth accused ran a call centre in Noida.
Those arrested were Amit Kumar, Ashwani, Amit Majhi, Kabir Verma and Nishant. All the accused in 21 and 26 age group. Kumar and Verma are the mastermind behind the calls, police said.
HT tried to contact the minister for a comment but could not get one immediately.
Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal confirmed the arrests and said a probe into the matter is underway.