Latest Extortion News | Top Extortion News Headlines Today | Today India news | Breaking Extortion News Today | English Extortion News Headlines - TheDailyGuardian

Bishnoi Gang Crackdown: ‘Madam Maya’ Aide ‘Joker’ Caught In Punjab

December 4, 2024, 2:19 pm

A major breakthrough in the aftermath of the arrest of notorious lady don ‘Madam Maya’, Jaipur police have arrested her assistant, Rajendra, aka ‘Joker’. The latter was nabbed on Tuesday from Bathinda, Punjab, where he was lodged as an accused in the murder case of the Punjabi politician and singer Sidhu Moosewala.

This is one more arrest which indicates how the law enforcement agencies do not stop until they break up the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which has been associated with a range of high-profile criminal activities.

Rajendra in Extortion Scheme and Infiltration

According to sources, Rajendra had a plan of extorting money from two businessmen of Jaipur. Even after getting arrested for the Moosewala murder case, he continued to give instructions on the criminal activities from his jail cell. The reports have confirmed that he made use of the jail period to induct new recruits into the Bishnoi gang and keep the gangsters updated about all the developments.

The Operations of Bishnoi Gang by Madam Maya

‘Madam Maya’, whose real name is Seema Malhotra, was arrested on Saturday and is believed to have been a key figure in the Bishnoi gang’s operations for the past two years. Her duties involved handling logistics, getting lawyers ready for gang members and making contact with those who are operating from abroad. In addition, she collected intelligence through social media on influential personalities and passed it to Rajendra and other members of the gang.

The Bishnoi Gang’s Wide Network

The Lawrence Bishnoi-led Bishnoi gang claims to have an extensive network of about 700 shooters across the country. Interestingly, the group was involved in the mass murders including that of Sidhu Moosewala, and even a politician, Baba Siddique. Lawrence Bishnoi operates from Sabarmati Jail where he is lodged.

Police Attention Towards Interrogation and Investigations

Seema Malhotra, alias Madam Maya, and Rajendra will be grilled by the Jaipur police after their arrest as a means of extracting further information about their criminal operations and wider networks associated with the Bishnoi gang. The investigation seeks to unmask more individuals involved in the gang’s illegal operations, especially those with international connections.

Recent Arrests Reflected Increasing Attempts of the Law Agencies to Overpower the Broad Criminal Machinery of the Bishnoi Gang.

Chandigarh Blasts: CCTV Footage Reveals Suspect, Police Investigate Motive

November 26, 2024, 2:38 pm

On Monday night, two explosions rocked Chandigarh’s Sector 26, one near the Seville Bar and Lounge and the other outside the De’ Orra Club, raising suspicions of an extortion attempt. The blasts caused considerable damage to the establishments, breaking their windows, but fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Watch:

चंडीगढ़ में 2 क्लबों के बाहर धमाके बम फटने की आशंका; बाहर लगे शीशे टूटे, लोग बोले- बाइक सवारों ने फेंका विस्फोटक pic.twitter.com/OZAMqBfRuj

— Sudarshan हरियाणा (@SudarshantvHR) November 26, 2024

CCTV footage from the scene showed a man approaching from across the road, throwing crude bombs at both clubs. After the explosions, which resulted in thick smoke billowing from the clubs, the suspect quickly fled the area. Police officials were promptly alerted and arrived at the location to begin investigating.

Initial investigations suggest that the explosions might be linked to an extortion attempt, though another theory involving a potential dispute between the clubs’ partners is also being explored. Senior officials from the Chandigarh police are continuing their inquiries to identify the perpetrators and determine the cause behind the attacks.

Badshah’s Seville Bar and Lounge Targeted

The Seville Bar and Lounge, which was opened by popular singer and rapper Badshah in December of the previous year, was among the targeted venues. In addition to Seville, Badshah co-owns other establishments, including Sago Spicy Symphony and Sidera.

Extortion Attempt at Punjab Petrol Pump

The explosion outside the clubs follows a similar incident in Punjab’s Mansa district, where a petrol pump was targeted in an extortion attempt. On October 27, a bomb exploded near the station, followed by a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the owner, Khushwinder Singh. The sender warned of further violence if the ransom wasn’t paid, stating that a grenade had been used as a “trailer” for future attacks. Singh reported the incident to the police, leading to an FIR under criminal intimidation and extortion charges.

Thieves Steal Youth’s Mobile Phone, Demand Money To Not Post Intimate Videos

August 2, 2024, 11:44 am

Nearly a month after a 25-year-old delivery driver’s mobile phone was stolen, he has now filed a new complaint of extortion. The thief allegedly contacted him, demanding Rs. 1 lakh to avoid posting intimate videos of him and his wife on social media. The police confirmed that the videos were recovered from the complainant’s phone, stolen on July 3.

According to police officials, the complainant, identified as Ajay Jha, has been working as an app-based delivery driver for a leading company for the past three months.

On July 3, while delivering goods in Andheri (West), Jha reported that a bike-riding assailant snatched his mobile phone and fled. He filed a complaint at Amboli police station.

Jha stated, “Around 11:30 AM on July 26, I received a call from a person named Ahmed Khan, who claimed to have found a memory card from my stolen phone containing intimate videos of me and my wife.”

“The caller demanded Rs. 1 lakh and threatened to post the videos on social media if I did not comply,” Jha added in his statement to the police.

Jha reported that he has received numerous calls since then, and on July 30, Khan contacted him to meet at a restaurant in Santacruz. “When I met him, Khan showed me the videos and claimed to have already sent them to one of his friends,” Jha told the police.

The 25-year-old was threatened again, with Khan stating that if he did not pay the ₹1 lakh, the video would be sold to someone willing to pay Rs. 2 lakh.

“Fearing the consequences, I asked for 10 days to gather the money, which Khan agreed to. However, since raising such an amount is difficult for me, I decided to file a police complaint,” Jha said.

The Vanrai police registered an extortion case late on Wednesday and subsequently detained the suspect from Oshiwara.

Man Arrested For Attempted ₹1 Crore Extortion From Delhi Jewellery Shop Owner

July 14, 2024, 2:42 pm

The Delhi Police arrested a 22-year-old man, Vineet Pandey, on Saturday for allegedly attempting to extort ₹1 crore from a businessman. According to police, Pandey threatened to kill the businessman’s family members if the large sum was not paid.

On July 10, a jewellery shop owner in Karol Bagh’s Kingsway Camp reported to the police that his son received a call the previous day from two unknown numbers demanding ₹1 crore. Following the call, the businessman promptly approached the police, leading to the filing of a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 308(4) for committing extortion by instilling fear of death or serious injury at the Ashok Vihar police station in Northwest Delhi.

The investigative team discovered that the phone numbers used to make the calls featured display pictures of gangsters currently in jail. Despite interrogating the shop’s employees, former staff, and outsourced workers, the police found no leads. The phone numbers were also switched off, making it impossible to trace the caller’s address. However, authorities determined that the call originated from Punjab.

Police detained Pandey in Akhada near Ludhiana, where he had been working as an agricultural laborer. During interrogation, he revealed that he was originally from Bara Banki in Uttar Pradesh and had come to Delhi for work. Before going to Punjab three months ago, he worked in a hardware shop in Chawri Bazar.

Wannabe Civil Servant Blackmails Chhattisgarh Couple’s After Filming Their Video

June 27, 2024, 11:03 am

A wannabe civil servant turned to burglary after his PSC aspirations fell through. A few nights ago in Chhattisgarh’s Durg, Vinay Kumar Sahu, 28, broke into a couple’s home, not to steal, but to record their intimate moment. He later attempted to extort Rs 10 lakh from them with the video.

Despite being shaken by the blackmail, the couple reported the incident to the police, leading to the swift end of Sahu’s brief criminal career, much like his failed PSC ambitions.

Sahu had used a stolen phone to record the video and send it via WhatsApp, unaware that it could be easily traced. “He made it easy for us to eventually track him down,” stated a police officer.

Authorities revealed that Sahu had repeatedly attempted the PSC exam but failed. Frustrated, he shifted to a life of crime, stealing mobile phones from a local vegetable market. His laziness limited him to petty thefts within his neighborhood. “He was so lazy that he hit the same places repeatedly,” commented a policeman.

Crime branch DSP Hem Prakash Nayak disclosed that Sahu had previously broken into the couple’s Ahiwara locality home twice, thinking the third attempt would be successful.

Last Friday, Sahu snuck into their home again, hoping to find something to steal. Instead, he recorded the couple during an intimate moment using a stolen smartphone. The following morning, the couple was shocked to see the video sent from an unknown number, followed by a demand for Rs 10 lakh.

Confused about how their private moment was captured, the couple filed a police complaint, including the number from which the video and extortion call originated.

A special team was quickly formed, and the cyber cell had no trouble tracing and arresting Sahu on Wednesday. He was still using the same phone and number. Police confiscated three mobile SIM cards and handsets from him and deleted the video.

In the aftermath, the couple now meticulously checks their doors, windows, and every corner of their house before going to bed.

Inspired By Crime Patrol, Man Attempts Extortion To Fulfill Wife’s Dream

June 22, 2024, 2:38 pm

Inspired by the TV series Crime Patrol, a man attempted to extort money from a doctor in Delhi’s Janakpuri area, allegedly driven by the desire to fulfill his wife’s dream of owning a new flat. The accused, identified as 32-year-old Ashok Kumar, who worked for a private firm and was struggling financially, targeted Dr. Anil after scouting three high-profile clinics in the area.

Wearing a mask, Kumar left an extortion letter, purportedly from a jailed gangster named Manoj Baba, at the doctor’s clinic, threatening harm if extortion demands weren’t met. However, Dr. Anil reported the incident to the police, leading to Kumar’s arrest and the recovery of the handwritten extortion letter.

The case was initially registered at Janakpuri police station and later transferred to the Southwest region’s Special Cell. Police apprehended Kumar after noticing his movements in the Jai Vihar area, based on information from an informer. A trap was laid, leading to his arrest, with the recovery of the motorcycle and clothes allegedly used in the extortion attempt.

During interrogation, Kumar confessed to the crime, citing financial struggles and his wife’s desire to purchase a new flat as motives. He admitted to entering Dr. Anil’s clinic on June 3, leaving the extortion letter on the assistant’s desk, and quickly leaving the premises. According to DCP (Special Cell) Manoj C, the handwriting on the letter matched Kumar’s.

Delhi court remands Lawrence Bishnoi to judicial custody in extortion case

June 15, 2023, 4:56 pm

Delhi’s Saket Court remanded gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to judicial custody on Wednesday in an extortion case in South East Delhi’s Sunlight Area.

He was produced before the court after his three-day police custody expired and remanded into judicial custody by the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate at Saket. Bishnoi had also been remanded for ten days starting 1 June under the Delhi police crime branch.

Following his interrogation, the Delhi police had moved an application seeking judicial custody of the gangster. On 11 June, the crime branch sought a four-day extension of remand to grill Bishnoi about another accused Akshay alias Balaji in Ganganagar, Rajasthan. Akshay, who was arrested in Gujarat under the NDPS, allegedly provided arms and ammunition used to threaten victims in the extortion case.

Delhi police said, “Accused Akshay had provided arms and ammunition in the present case and also facilitated the stay of accused Hiren and two Child CCLs ( Child in Conflict with the law) who were allegedly involved in the commission of the crime in the present case.”

The Delhi police are also seeking to gather information regarding an accused named Kapil alias Nandu and understand how the gangster Bishnoi was able to communicate with and direct Akshay despite being in jail. It was also stated that the accused Kapil is outside India and provided the information to the accused Lawrence Bishnoi for the purposes of the execution of the plan.

An investigation is underway to establish sources for the money used to purchase the arms and ammunition and unearth the chain of conspiracy in order to apprehend other members involved in this nexus.

The court also remanded another accused Sampat Nehra to judicial custody till 25 June. Nehra had already spent nine days in police custody. Nehra is a co-accused in the extortion case and was grilled by police about Bishnoi as well as the gang’s operations in Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana. Nehra was produced in front of the court on production warrants from Punjab. He was booked under section 25 of the Arms Act.

The extortion case in question was initially reported by advocate Ramandeep Singh on 24 April in Delhi’s Sunlight Colony, where an FIR was lodged. The case was later transferred to the Crime branch. Singh alleged that he received threatening calls since the night of 23-24 March from an unknown international number. The caller, Singh claimed, had threatened his family and demanded Rs 1 crore. Lawrence was arrested in connection with the case on 31 May.

Meanwhile, the court also granted the accused’s counsel the liberty to talk to the accused for five to 10 minutes every day via audio/video call and for every 30 minutes in-person every alternate day during the entire period of the remand, after submitting written intimation at least 24 hours prior to the proposed time of the meeting.

CBI files FIR against NIA officials for extortion in Manipur

May 2, 2023, 4:45 pm

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against two National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers, Vishal Garg and Inspector Md Rajib Khan, for their alleged involvement in corruption and criminal activities while posted at the NIA office in Manipur’s Imphal.

As per the FIR, the accused had allegedly extorted Rs. 60 lakh from three local residents of Imphal, threatening to falsely implicate them in NIA cases. Garg, who was the then SP of the NIA Branch Office in Imphal, and Khan, his subordinate, were accused of collecting money from Manipur residents through cutouts.

The CBI has charged them under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 388 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and several sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI initiated the probe after receiving a complaint from Sudhanshu Shekhar Shukla, Deputy Superintendent, Administration, NIA Headquarters, who alleged that Garg and Khan were extorting money from Manipur residents.

The FIR also revealed that the accused officers were investigating a case of alleged terror funding by the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), United Liberation Front (UNLF), and People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), all prescribed under UAPA. The CBI is also investigating the possibility of the accused threatening others to extort money from them.

Man harassed and extorted money from woman, held

October 23, 2022, 7:31 pm

Man harassed and extorted money from woman, held

A man allegedly blackmailed, harassed, and extorted Rs 7 lakh from a woman in exchange for the deletion of pictures circulated online, police officials said on Sunday.

Anshul Srivastava, a one-sided lover who tormented the accused through emails, messages, and the uploading of images to social media without the complainant’s permission, has been named as the accused.

“The woman filed a complaint that one person is continuously harassing, threatening, and bullying her through emails, messages and uploading pictures without her consent on various social media platforms. The accused was defaming her by sending her pictures to her friends and family and demanded Rs. 7,00,000 from the complainant to delete/remove the pictures from the sites,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, South West District, New Delhi, Manoj C.

According to the police, the accused’s possessions included one mobile phone, two sim cards, two ATM cards, and one bank chequebook.

“On October 21, the team with the help of local police staff succeeded to apprehend the accused and after sustained interrogation, he disclosed the commission of the crime. In his instance, one mobile phone, two alleged sim cards, two alleged atm cards, and one bank chequebook were recovered,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Police.

On further interrogation, it was found that the accused was in love with the complainant and became over-possessive about her colleagues and friends.
“Despite her not responding to his activities, he kept trying to impress her and kept sending e-mails. He used the app INDYCALL to use proxy numbers to call the complainant. Thereafter, he even threatened her elder sister to give him Rs. 10,00,000 or be engaged with him for his lustful desire to delete her sister’s photos,” said Manoj C.
The police have registered an FIR under 354A/384/506/499/420/509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Friend request on Instagram leads to the extortion of Rs 12.58 lakh from a custom officer’s wife

September 9, 2022, 10:55 am

A man, identified as Naveen Kashyap, has been arrested for blackmailing a custom officer’s wife by threatening her that he would share her private pictures online.

The incident started when the woman received a friend request on Instagram from a girl in February 2021. During the conversation, the social media friend asked for nude pictures of the woman, and trusting her, she shared the pictures.

Later, the user leaked the pictures to the 25-year-old blackmailer, Naveen Kashyap. Naveen extorted around Rs 12.58 lakh from the woman for one year. She first paid the man Rs 2 lakh, and as per his demand, she kept paying him by selling her jewellery.

According to the complaint registered, the accused had once come down to Kharghar as well and molested the woman.

Senior police inspector Sandeepan Shinde said, “Fed up with the blackmailing and paying money, she registered a complaint in August and, with the help of the mobile number of the accused, we traced him to Himachal Pradesh and arrested him.”

According to police, the accused is originally from Haryana and is a hotel management graduate and was working in a hotel in Himachal Pradesh. He had no previous record of crime.