Extortion call: The accused have been identified as Chattisgarh residents, said police (Representational)
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested two persons for allegedly making extortion calls to a Ludhiana-based businessman in the name of Lawrence Bishnoi--Goldy Brar gang.
According to the police, they also threatened the businessman that in case, he failed to pay the ransom, his fate would be like Sidhu Moose Wala's.
Sidhu Moose Wala was a Punjab-based singer and Congress leader who was killed by unknown shooters in Jawaharke village of Punjab's Mansa district on May 29.
Notably, Goldy Brar had taken the responsibility behind the singer's killing and the Punjab Police informed a Delhi court that Lawrence Bishnoi was the key conspirator in Moose Wala's murder.
The case -- where two persons were arrested for identifying themselves from the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar gang and threatening him to pay ransom money of Rs 10 lakh -- was registered with the Ludhiana Cyber Police Station on the complaint of a Punjab-based businessman who alleged that he has been receiving threat calls from unknown international and national mobile numbers since June 4.
"Acting on the information provided by the Punjab Police, the leads were further developed through technical analysis and digital footprints. The user of the alleged mobile phone number was traced in sector 22 of Gurugram, Haryana and was apprehended along with another person," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, K P S Malhotra, IFSO Special Cell.
According to the police, the accused have been identified as S Singh (29) and A A Khan (24), both the residents of Chattisgarh's Bilaspur.
"The mobile phone used to threaten the complainant was recovered from S Singh and it was found that the alleged mobile phone number was registered in the name of A A Khan.
The police said that the alleged persons had also provided a bank account number to the complainant to transfer the said money, which was when investigated by the Delhi Police helped in tracing the accused persons.
The police also said that, on sustained interrogation, S Singh disclosed that in January 2022, he met one Raja from Gopalganj of Bihar who had tasked him to arrange bank accounts and ATM cards, and he had arranged as many as 25 bank accounts to Raja.
"He received Rs 25,000/- for each bank account/ATM card. Apart from delivering the ATM card, he used to withdraw the money from the alleged bank accounts and then further used to deposit/ transfer the money in other accounts provided by Raja," said the police.
It further added that he had also arranged a bank account and an ATM card of the alleged bank account involved in the Ludhiana case as well.
The Delhi Police have arrested them under relevant sections of the law and have also informed the Ludhiana Police about the same.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)