Jail extortion racket busted: 2 caught for opening fire at businessman

Two members of Dhirpal and Vikas Langarpuria gang have been held for opening fire at a businessman for refusing to pay Rs 25 lakh protection money in west Delhi’s Najafgarh on Monday.

Police have learnt that the gang leaders have been operating from Bhondsi Jail in Haryana’s Gurgaon district.

The culprits have been identified as Vineet Kumar, 24, and Pawan Gulia, 19. Police said Dhirpal is presently lodged in Bhondsi Jail for a murder case of Haryana’s Hisar district.
Langarpuria was also arrested in the case.

“Dhirpal is operating the gang from Bhondsi Jail, while Langarpuria is on court bail and manages the extortion racket from outside,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) R A Sanjeev, adding Vineet was their terror face among businessmen.

On Monday, the gang had opened fire at Sanjay Kumar at Deenpur in Najafgarh. In his statement, Sanjay told police that he had received phone calls in which the criminals demanded Rs 25 lakh. Sanjay was threatened that he would be killed if the demand was not fulfiled.

As Sanjay did not pay the money, he was attacked outside his Aggarwal Sweets shop. Two rounds were fired to threaten him. A case under Indian Penal Code and Arms Act was filed with Chhawla police station.

Technical surveillance revealed that the SIM card used to make the phone calls was issued on fake ID cards, but was being operated from Bhondsi Jail. CCTV footage helped identify one of the attackers as Pawan.

On Friday, police were informed that Pawan would come to Najafgarh. A trap was laid and Pawan was arrested along with Vikas. They told police that the masterminds were Dhirpal, who used to give instructions from Bhondsi Jail and Langarpuria, who is on bail.