New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS): A Dubai-returned businessman has been arrested for trying to extort Rs 50 lakh from another businessman, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Narendra, 27, a resident of Noida, employed two juveniles, who fired shots at the house of the victim and left a threat note claiming to be from the Jitender Gogi gang, an official said
A case was registered on November 30, on the basis of the complaint given by Gaurav Tyagi, who has a building material business and is a resident of Wazirabad village in north Delhi.
He alleged that at around 12:30 p.m on November 30, two unknown persons on a motorcycle fired bullets at his residence, and threw a paper demanding extortion money of Rs 50 lakh in the name of notorious Gogi Gang.
Tyagi also informed investigators that he had also received an extortion message of Rs 50 lakh from a WhatsApp number on December 8, in the name of Gogi Gang, Deepak Boxer, Sunny Kakran, and Anuj Jaat.
"The WhatsApp number was traced to the UAE-based DU Telecommunication Service Provider and no details regarding its ownership were available with any Indian Telecommunication Service Provider," Deputy Commissioner of Police, North, Manoj Kumar Meena said.
Subsequently, a request for seeking details of the WhatsApp number used for the extortion message was sent to Meta and it was found that the account was active on a mobile phone operating software and from Internet protocol detail record (IPDR), a mobile number issued on fake ID was identified.
"The user of the number was found travelling in Central and Western India," said the DCP.
While the probe was going on, the Crime Branch apprehended two juveniles, who were involved in the firing incident at the residence of Tyagi. The police team then traced the location of the WhatsApp user to Noida, and Narender, a resident of Jaypee Aman, Sector 151, Noida was arrested.
On interrogation, Narender disclosed that he runs a business of providing jobs for Indian workers in Dubai and thus, he came in contact with some residents of Dubai, and from one of them, he procured a UAE number.
"On WhatsApp, he started contacting job aspirants from UAE number to gain their trust. His associates know this fact that he is using a UAE number and asked for the number/SIM card, but on his last visit to Dubai in November, he failed to bring it.
“Subsequently, Narender used his own UAE number for extortion messages in lieu of promised money," the DCP added.