Man arrested on extortion charges

Kolkata: A man was arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from a person by posing as a political personality.

According to sources, a businessman of Beliaghata area lodged a complaint with the Beliaghata police alleging that he was being threatened by the accused. The businessman told police that a few days back he received a call from a person, who claimed to be very close to a politician. The caller was speaking in Hindi.

The caller apparently asked the complainant to give Rs 50 lakh. On December 9, a person identified as Souvik Dasgupta along with a woman went to the businessman's office and demanded the money.

The complainant alleged that Dasgupta and the woman threatened him by showing a firearm. Few moments later, they left the spot by saying that they would return to take the money later. During the probe police tracked mobile tower location and nabbed Dasgupta from his house in Jadavpur area on Thursday. Later, cops came to know that he was an event manager and also knew ventriloquism. However, cops are trying to find out the woman.