Jailed gangster held for extortion racket
Karn Pratap Singh
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday said they have arrested a 22-year-old jailed member of Kala Jathedi-lawrence Bishnoi gang from Delhi’s Mandoli jail for demanding ₹5 crore from a city businessman using two cellphones that he was was operating in the jail to make extortion calls.
Officers aware of the case said one of the phones, an iphone 12 mini, and a BSNL SIM card used for making the extortion calls was recovered from the jail.
The arrested gangster was identified as Akshya Palda alias Akshay Antil, who was arrested in December last year by the Haryana Police in a murder case. At the time of his apprehension, Palda carried a reward of ₹2 lakh for his arrest.
Palda is also emerging as a suspect in the Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala murder case, said deputy commissioner of police (central) Shweta Chauhan.
“The SIM card was procured from a shop in Meerut by a constable posted at a police station there. The constable got the SIM card issued in the name of a CNG vehicle mechanic. He gave it to a criminal named Rakesh alias Raka, who was his informer.
Through Rakesh, the SIM card reached Mandoli jail where Palda and his cell mate Naresh Sethi, another member of the same gang, used it for making the calls,” said an officer associated with the investigation.
According to the officer, the role of the UP police constable was also probed in an extortion case registered in Karol Bagh on June 3 on the complaint by a garments businessman, who is a resident of Pitampura.
A clean chit was given to the constable after it emerged that he had given the SIM card to his informer for gathering information about wanted criminals.
“The informer double-crossed the constable and gave the same SIM card to Jathedi’s associates through whom it reached Mandoli jail. It is now being ascertained how exactly two cellphones and the SIM card were taken inside the jail, despite tight security. Efforts are on to recover the other phone, a China-made basic mobile phone,” the officer said.
Director General of Delhi Prisons (Tihar) Sandeep Goel said, “It is correct. On inputs from police, a cellphone has been recovered by the prison staff from Mandoli Jail. The prison administration continuously strives to check the illegal use of mobile phones.”