Attempted extortion of Delhi bizman, 5 held

New Delhi: Five people were arrested for attempting to extort Rs 2 crore from a businessman and firing a bullet at his employee after they were allegedly inspired by gangster videos online, police here said on Tuesday.

“On April 18, a PCR call regarding a firing was received at Najafgarh police station. During the investigation, it was revealed that two unknown men who reached a godown on a scooter shot at the

cleaner, Sanjay,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said.

“The bullet brushed aside and hit the wall behind. The bullet fragments hit his hand. As soon as he shouted, the person who fired the shot fled away,” the DCP said.

The accused have been identified as Sunny Shah (22), Nikhil (20), Lakshay (22), Shiv Prakash (18), and Inderjeet (26), police said. The businessman’s son got a call threatening him to pay Rs 2 crore, or else he would also be shot, they said.

“On April 19, based on CCTV footage, shooter Sunny Shah and two conspirators identified as Lakshay Bhardwaj, Nikhil, and their associates - Shiv Prakash and Inderjeet - were apprehended by the team.

Accused told police that they were inspired by the videos of infamous gangsters, available on social media,” DCP said.

Sunny, who had earlier worked as an electrician in the victim’s godown, told his associates of the businessman and devised a plan to extort money from him, he said.

“To extort money, he planned with his associates. They arranged a SIM of a stolen mobile phone and scooter. Sunny arranged a weapon from his village,” he said.

During the investigation, police found that Sunny, Shiv, and Inderjeet were involved in other criminal cases.

An FIR has been registered against the accused under sections 307 (attempt to murder), and 34 (common intentions) of the India Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act.

Further investigation is underway, he added.