JOIN USA small-time businessman and his two employees, including a teenager, were arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs 2 crore from a Karol Bagh-based trader in the name of D-Company, a criminal group controlled by wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.
The accused have been identified as Sameer Verma, 30, Ajeet Gupta, 19, and Hemant, 26. They were held over a probe after Vinod Jain, a businessman dealing in readymade garments, approached Desh Bandhu Gupta Road police station on October 25. He stated that someone was threatening on his mobile phone and demanding Rs 2 crore as protection money.
“The caller threatened that if the demand was not met, the gang would eliminate Vinod and his family members. Vinod was also threatened that the gang knew where his children were studying and that they would be kidnapped,” said Alok Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Central).
To keep Vinod under intense fear of death, the accused persons also put a gift pack with a threatening message outside his house.
Police suspected that it might be the handiwork of someone known to the businessman. “Probable suspects were shortlisted. It included Sameer, who had earlier worked with Vinod as a fabricator,” Kumar added.
Sameer confessed about his involvement in the crime and told police that he along with his employees had hatched a conspiracy to extort money from Vinod. Sameer claimed that he was under debt and planned to target Vinod to overcome his financial constraints.
“Sameer was aware about Vinod’s financial condition and background so they demanded a huge amount,” Kumar said. According to the plan, they bought a new mobile phone and used a SIM card taken on a fake name to make the extortion calls. Police also arrested Ajeet and Hemant.