A businessman from East Delhi has been receiving extortion calls from one Yogesh Bhadora, a dreaded criminal of western Uttar Pradesh, for the past month. Bhadora is allegedly seeking Rs 25 lakh 'protection money' in lieu of the family's well-being.
A case was initially registered at Shakarpur Police Station but investigation has been transferred to the anti-extortion unit (AEU) of the Crime Branch.
Bhadora has over 40 cases registered against him, including which more than a dozen murder cases, in various districts of Uttar Pradesh. The Bhadora gang is especially active in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Ghaziabad.
last year, Bhadora's name emerged after a daring shootout in a Ghaziabad district court, where he and his associates attacked gangster Uddham Singh, who was appearing in court in a murder case.
The businessman owns a banquet hall and resort in south Delhi and Bulandshahr and resides in laxmi Nagar. "The first extortion call was received on January 31. Bhadora had called on the victim's private phone number and demanded Rs 25 lakh protection money," said a senior police officer.
Threatening calls started pouring in thereafter, though the trader refused to be browbeaten. Bhadora warned him of serious consequences and he was specifically instructed not to approach Delhi Police.
"The victim later informed us. A case under Sections 387 (extortion with threat to life) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered against Bhadora at Shakarpur Police Station," the officer added.
After the Special Staff of East district began to track Bhadora, he used a different number but the calls continued. "Investigators recorded the conversation and they have checked call detail records (CDR). The extortion call was made from a fake identity number," the officer added.
Investigation was later transferred to AEU. They found that Bhadora would discard SIMs after each call.
Teams are on his trail and he will be brought to justice, a Crime Branch sleuth added.