Police are trying to zero in on people behind the letter to Cardinal Telesphore P Toppo in which the Cardinal has been asked to pay extortion of Rs5 crore else face dire consequences.
As the police are exploring all options to solve the mysterious letter allegedly from People’s liberation Front of India (PlFI), officials are tightlipped about developments so far. The Police are yet to record statements of the Cardinal who returned to Ranchi on Tuesday.
“We take all letters of this type very seriously. We are investigating the case and considering the sensitivity of the matter we would not comment at this stage. We will try to meet him (Toppo) on Wednesday to record his statement,” said City SP Jaya Roy.
Interestingly, the letter has been sent from Kucchu village of Ormanjhi block through post and it bears the name of zonal commander of PlFI in Jharkhand-Bengal region, Michael Raj Kujur, and it seeks the pastor to pay Rs5-crore from his earnings. Also, the letter bears the name of the collector of the extortion amount, Amit and his phone number which has been examined by the police.
“Yes, we have tried that number but there is no breakthrough in the case as of now,” said the City SP. Sources, however, confided that the number has been confirmed to have been issued in West Bengal to someone named Amit and police is trying to extract call details to solve the case.
The letter instructs the Cardinal to handover the money to Amit who according to the letter would be standing near Badabagan, a place in Shiudi in Birbhum district in West Bengal. The Cardinal has been given 15-days time to comply with the demand.
Nonetheless, the mystery of the letter deepens further as it dates back to May 10 thus giving rise the probability of the letter being a hoax. “It happens that sometimes a letter turns out to be hoax yet we are examining all aspects of the case,” maintained Roy.