7 members of a gang arrested for demanding ransom from Delhi-based businessman

Seven members of a gang were arrested for allegedly making a ransom call to a Delhi-based businessman, demanding Rs one crore, police said on Wednesday. During interrogation, Praveen disclosed that after snatching the mobile phones, he used to remove the SIM cards and pass them to Bhinda gang members who used the cards for ransom calls, police said.

Seven members of a gang were arrested for allegedly making a ransom call to a Delhi-based businessman, demanding Rs one crore, police said on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Jai Dixit (22), Mandeep Singh (25) Raman Singh (26), Praveen Kumar (31), Rajeev (26) and Akash, all residents of Najafgarh. Naveen Kumar (30), resident of Nangli Sakrawati village, has also been arrested they said. On June 9, a Delhi-based businessman lodged a complaint at the Vikaspuri police station, alleging that he got a call from an unknown number in which the caller identified himself as Satinder alias Bhinda from Tihar Jail and demanded a ransom of Rs one crore. He threatened the businessman that if he fails to pay the ransom, his family members would face dire consequences, a senior police officer said. "During investigation, the police found that the mobile number was snatched on May 24 from Baba Haridas Nagar. It was recovered from the possession of a person named Akash who disclosed that two other people -- Praveen Kumar and Rajeev -- had given it to him," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Deepak Purohit said. Thereafter, Praveen and Rajeev were also arrested. Praveen used to snatch phones in west Delhi, police said. During interrogation, Praveen disclosed that after snatching the mobile phones, he used to remove the SIM cards and pass them to Bhinda gang members who used the cards for ransom calls, police said. Praveen said he gave the SIM card to his neighbour Jai Dixit, who was a member of the Bhinda Gang to make the ransom calls, the DCP said. Later, Dixit was also arrested and he disclosed that Bhinda contacted him from jail through social media, provided details of the victim and instructed him to make an call, use his name and demand the ransom. Bhinda used to send recorded audio messages to gang members so that they could use it during such calls, Purohit said. Dixit contacted his other gang members Mandeep, Naveen and Raman Singh and discussed the plan hatched by Bhinda, police said. They arranged the sim card from Praveen and purchased a new mobile phone and made a WhatsApp call to demand the ransom on June 9, the DCP said. On Tuesday, all the accused persons were arrested from different places and the mobile phone used to make the ransom call was recovered from Jai Vihar Nala, near Nangli Sakrawati, police said. Two pistols, seven live cartridges, five mobile phones and one bike were recovered from their possession, they added.