Two persons, including a former employee of a printing press have been arrested for allegedly trying to extort ₹2.5 crore from the press owner in north-west Delhi’s Model Town, the police said on Monday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Vijayanta Arya said that the accused have been identified as Aman Kumar Jha (30), a resident of Kirari and a graphic designer by profession, and his brother-in-law Aman Tiwary (20), a resident of Jamshedpur who is pursuing BBA.
The police said that complainant Harish Mittal received a call on his mobile wherein the caller demanded ₹50 lakh from him. Scared, the victim contacted his friend Ajay Chauhan who further got in touch with the caller for negotiation. “The friend tried to convince the caller that Mr. Mittal could not pay such a huge amount. The caller said Mr. Mittal would die if he did not pay the amount,” Ms. Arya said.
The accused also said that for every negotiation call made by the victim or his friend, the accused would increase the amount by ₹50 lakh, which finally stood at ₹2.5 crore, the police said.
The matter was then reported to the police on April 5 and a case under Section 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt in order to commit extortion) of the Indian Penal Code was registered.
The police also said that they had provided round-the-clock security to Mr. Mittal and asked him to continue negotiating with the caller, while the investigation was going on. “Details of all the employees at the printing press and at home were sought to see if there was any link between them and the caller. The location of the call was later traced to Jamshedpur after which a team was sent there,” Ms. Arya said. Raids were conducted at certain locations in Jamshedpur after which the accused were arrested on Sunday.
During interrogation, Aman told the police that he had worked at the printing press for two months in 2018 and thought that it would be easy to extort money from the victim. “Aman was unemplyed and his wife had also left him and gone to her her parents’ house. He was in need of money and therefore planned the extortion along with his brother-in-law. He was sure that Mr. Mittal would not report the matter to the police,” Ms. Arya added.
