A businessman and two of his employees have been arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs2 crore from another Delhi-based trader in the name of ‘D-company’, the gang of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
“The accused have been identified as identified as Sameer Verma (30) and his employees Ajeet Gupta (19) and Hemant, alias Rohit (26). They were arrested on Thursday morning from Shakurbasti area by the Special Staff of Central district. Four mobile phones and SIM cards used in the commission of crime have also been recovered from them,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Central) Alok Kumar.
Sameer was earlier a contract fabricator with Vinod Jain, the complainant and it was he who had hatched this conspiracy to extort money with the help of two of his employees. To keep the complainant under fear of death, the accused had even put a gift pack with a threatening message at his house. According to plan, they had bought a new phone and used already activated SIM taken on a fake name to make the extortion calls. They identified themselves as members of ‘D-company’, used for Dawood’s gang and asked Jain to pay Rs2 crore as protection money. The matter came to light on Tuesday when Jain, a businessman dealing in readymade garments, reported that someone was threatening him that if his demand of Rs2 crore is not met, he would eliminate him and his family members.
Police registered a case at DBG Road police station and took up investigation. Initially, there was no clue about the suspects. During further investigation, it was suspected that it might be the handiwork of someone known to the businessman. Technical and CCTV footage analysis, intensive groundwork led police to the trio and they were arrested from a factory at Shakurpur.
On interrogation, Sameer disclosed that he was under debt and to overcome his financial constraints, he planned to commit this crime with his employees. He was aware about the financial condition of the complainant. Further investigation is in progress, he added.