Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested a 20-year-old AC mechanic for allegedly making extortion calls to the owner of Mohali-based pharmaceutical company by posing as Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar.
Identified as Suraj from Chandigarh’s Maloya Colony, the accused was arrested from Mohali’s Verka Chowk when he, along with his friend Mandeep Singh (32), was going to collect extortion money on a motorcycle. The Police have also recovered two mobile phones and a Black Colour CT 100 motorcycle (without registration number plate) from their possession.
They were arrested under sections 384 (extortion) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The arrest came after the pharmaceutical company owner lodged a complaint with the police that he received phone calls from a man claiming to be gangster Goldy Brar on December 30 last year. The caller demanded Rs 30 lakh and threatened to kill him if he failed to pay the protection money on time.
Sharing details, the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that following the complaint, the State Special Operation Cell of SAS Nagar immediately started investigations into the matter, and arrested the accused caller Suraj, who was using the WhatsApp number of his aide Mandeep Singh to make extortion calls to the target. While accused Suraj works as an AC mechanic, his aide Mandeep is a taxi driver from Mangewal village in Sri Anandpur Sahib, he said.
DGP Yadav once again cautioned people to be wary of fake extortion calls and urged them to immediately inform the police whenever they receive such a call.
Recent investigations in such extortion cases by the Punjab Police have revealed that a very large number of such extortion calls in the name of known gangsters were made by unknown criminals, who don't have any association with these gangs or gangsters.
Giving details regarding the modus operandi, AIG, SSOC-SAS Nagar, Ashwani Kapur said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused Suraj, when going to repair ACs at homes, shops, or companies, would identify affluent people as possible targets and would note down their details to give them the impression that their activities are being watched, which enable him to make the victim a soft target to extort money.
“We have sent both the mobile phones for forensic examination to find out if accused persons have made extortion calls to any other person,” he said.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said Suraj had used the WhatsApp number of Mandeep, a taxi driver from Mangewal village in Shri Anandpur Sahib, to make extortion calls to the complainant.
The DGP cautioned people to be wary of extortion calls and urged them to inform police immediately when they received such a call. In a recent investigation, the majority of extortion calls made in the name of gangsters were found to have been fake.
According to AIG Ashwani Kapur, Suraj would go to homes, shops or firms to repair ACs and target affluent people. “We have sent both mobile phones for a forensic examination to find out if accused persons had made extortion calls to any other person,” he said.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered under sections 384 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station SSOC SAS Nagar.