'Human' thumb, smartwatch, ransom note: Delhi Police cracks bizarre Rs 5 crore extortion case

New Delhi: A routine morning turned bizarre for a businessman in east Delhi's Shahdara when he got a parcel delivered at home with a human thumb in it.

The parcel also contained a smart watch and a letter demanding Rs 5 crore in aid for people in Gaza, a geopolitical hotbed now at war with Israel.

All the same, the thumb turned out to be a prosthetic, filled with chicken gristle to lend it an authentic look. What the smart watch was intended to convey is not yet known.

The incident happened on April 16, the same day businessman Vikas Jain approached Jagatpuri Police Station, reporting that a girl delivered a suspicious parcel at his house, a police officer said.

"The accompanying letter warned of grave consequences to him and his family if the demanded ransom was not paid within 10 days," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.

The letter read, "Brother, we know about you very well. You must be aware that in Gaza, the situation is very bad. Israel has made Gaza's condition very miserable. People there are dying of hunger. We don't want the people of our community to suffer like that. So, you must help the needy," Gautam said.

The sender(s) said that they had been ordained by Allah to help the helpless and demanded the ransom money in 10 days. "You have no other way or path left. Only one task is left: within 10 days, Rs 5 crore must be delivered outside your house at 8 am. If it is not given before 8 am, then something bad could happen to you as well." Police investigation led to the girl who had delivered the parcel.

Her interrogation led police to Abhishek, 45, a person known to Vikas Jain for the past 30 years.

According to police, Abhishek confessed to orchestrating the plot with the help of his niece, the girl, and his relative, Sachin Jain. He also admitted to purchasing a plastic thumb online for Rs 3,500 and a smartwatch for Rs 500.

He typed the letter on his mobile phone and got its printed at a local shop, the DCP said.

"On the day of the incident, Abhishek personally guided his niece to the victim's residence while he kept watch from a distance. He also coordinated with hired associates to monitor the complainant's movements," Gautam said.

At Abhishek's instance, Sachin Jain was apprehended too and was sent to judicial custody along with Abhishek. The girl has been housed in an Observation Home under the Juvenile Justice Act.

"Muslims are not beasts; we love our people. But if someone turns away from the path of help, he is no longer a brother to us. Remember: if any mistake happens, even if it's small, you or someone close to you will die. Last time too, we caught someone who didn't listen, and we had to kill him," the letter read.

Police said the mailers went to a local chicken shop to purchase a bone and some pieces of meat to stuff inside of the silicon based thumb to give the limb an original look.

None of the three under custody had any prior criminal record, police said.