Two arrested in extortion bid

One of the accused was the victim’s cousin

Two men were arrested for allegedly attempting to extort ₹5 crore from a Delhi-based businessman in the name of jailed gangster Neeraj Bawana, the police said on Tuesday.

The duo have been identified as Sunny Dagar alias Sunny Issapur, 30, and Pushpender Lochav, 34.

Pass on information

The victim runs a business in Bamnoli village in Dwarka and the accused Lochav is his cousin who would often pass on relevant information about the victim to the criminals.

The businessman received threats calls in the name of Neeraj Bawana gang through virtual international numbers. “The caller had introduced himself as Sunny Issapur from Neeraj Bawana gang, and had demanded ₹5 crore from him,” the police said, adding that the victim received another threat call from another number.

DCP (Special Cell) Rajiv Ranjan Singh said that it was revealed that Sunny Dagar, belonging to Bawana’s gang were involved in the crime.

Dagar, currently in Patiala jail was interrogated. He disclosed that Lochav gave him tip-offs about the victim’s business and other relevant details. He also informed him regarding the family disputes, the police said.

“Dagar further disclosed that he was in direct contact with Canada-based fugitive criminal Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala through social media and as per the instructions of jailed gangsters Neeraj Bawana-Naveen Bali, was planning to eliminate their rival gang – Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Jathedi,” he said.

To procure sophisticated weapons, Dagar made extortion calls to the victim. He disclosed that Arsh had transferred money in Lochav’s bank account for providing the information regarding the complainant, the police said.

Based on inputs, Lochav was arrested on September 7 from Dwarka, the police said, adding that he and Dagar would go to different locations and were in contact with Arsh. They planned to threaten the victim to extort money.