The Chhattisgarh Police on Thursday arrested two persons for blackmailing and extorting Rs 1.40 crore from a forest ranger of Bilaspur district, claiming that the CBI was probing charges of financial irregularities against him and that he will be jailed.
Mungeli Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar Kujur told The Pioneer over telephone that the arrested men were Paramveer Marhas (40) and his accomplice Varsha Tiwari (30). The mastermind, Sartaj, is still at large. All three are residents of Bilaspur city.
On Wednesday, Mungeli Forest Ranger C.R. Netam lodged a complaint against the three.
The arrested persons told the police that Sartaj made plans to blackmail and extort money from Netam, who was posted as the Ratanpur forest ranger in 2019.
They told Neteam that there is a complaint against him with the CBI and that the CBI chief is investigating the case. They threatened to destroy Netam’s family and said he will be jailed in the Andaman & Nicobar island.
The three extorted Rs 1.40 crore from the Ranger in installments between May 2019 and February 2021.
They bought Safari car (CG-10, NA-6647), a Swift Car (CG-11, E-1785), a Bullet bike (CG-10, AU-3853) and gold ornaments with the ill-gotten money.
The police have seized two cars, a bike, gold ornaments and Rs 8.15 lakh cash from them. A hunt has been launched to nab Sartaj.