Two arrested for extorting ₹10 lakh from former deputy mayor of Gurugram
Police arrested two people on Wednesday for allegedly implicating a BJP leader from Haryana, who was a senior deputy mayor of Gurugram, in false cases, blackmailing him and extorting money from him
Police arrested two people on Wednesday for allegedly implicating a BJP leader from Haryana, who was a senior deputy mayor of Gurugram, in false cases, blackmailing him and extorting money from him.
Yashpal Batra (39), a resident of New Colony in Gurugram, who was senior deputy mayor of Gurugram between 2011 and 2016, said on Wednesday, he received a summon notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asking him to appear before them on May 16. When he got the notice checked, he found that it was fake.
Batra said a man, identified as Rajender Pathak, approached him in November last year and informed he had filed complaints against him at the behest of six people, who are senior officers in CBI and ED, for acquiring properties worth ₹362 crore through illegal means.
Batra said Pathak allegedly demanded ₹4 crore to settle the matter and threatened him that serious action will be taken against him and his family members if he failed to pay the amount. “I got scared and asked the man to organise a meeting with the ED and CBI officials, for which he called me to Delhi. I met them (the suspects) in a car for five minutes. Two women sitting inside the car posed as CBI and ED officers, they even showed me their IDs and visiting cards,” said Batra adding that they kept demanding the money to withdraw the cases registered against him.
Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that the suspects took names of the deputy director of ED and CBI and demanded money on their behalf when Batra refused to pay. “Batra paid them ₹10 lakh as they threatened him that they will attach his properties and freeze his bank accounts,” said Sangwan.
The ACP said Batra narrated the ordeal to one of his friends, who gave him the idea of recording the calls and the meetings with the suspects. “A meeting was fixed in the victim’s car, in which CCTV cameras and voice recording devices were fitted. Batra requested the suspects to withdraw the complaints but they pressurised him to pay the remaining amount of ₹3.90 crore. They also threatened to defame him if the money was not paid on time,” said Sangwan.
Police said when Batra showed the clip to his friends, they informed him that the suspects were part of a gang who extorted money from people after filing false complaints against them and filing RTIs.
On Tuesday, Batra met the commissioner of police and lodged a complaint against six people, following which a team was formed to investigate the case. Sangwan said they asked Batra to call the suspects and hand over ₹2 lakh while the police followed him in plain clothes. “Two suspects were caught red-handed when they were accepting the ₹2 lakh from Batra in Old Gurugram,” said Sangwan.
A case under sections 120 B (conspiracy), 384 (extortion). 385 (Putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt, 389 (Putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC was registered against the suspects at New Colony police station on Tuesday.
Sangwan said the suspects have extorted money from several government officials, developers, businessmen and industrialists. “The suspects used to file an RTI against all such people and extorted money after gathering information about them. They used forged ID cards of the CBI and ED officials and used to send fake notices threatening them of official action if they did not pay the amount,” said the ACP.
Police said the suspects were produced before a court on Thursday, which remanded them in police custody for three days. Police are conducting searches to nab the remaining four suspects.
