Three arrested for blackmailing, extorting youth

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police arrested three persons for allegedly luring a youth on the pretext of offering a job and then extorting money by blackmailing him. The incident took place in North-east Delhi’s Seemapuri area.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Monu Panchal, Harish and Pawan Sharma.

A senior police official of the North-east district said that they received a complaint from one Avdhesh Kumar that he was allegedly blackmailed and forced to give his ATM passwords to three men who took out Rs 22,500 from his account.

“On October 20, the complainant met one Monu Panchal at the gate of the Guru Tegh Bahadur hospital who took him to a flat at Dilshad Colony. Here a girl was already present and he was made to pay Rs 2,000 for registration,” said a senior police official.

“Later Panchal was joined by two other men, later identified to be Har- ish and Pawan Sharma, who allegedly beat him and made him to take off his clothes and clicked his pictures. The trio allegedly forced the complainant to give his ATM card passwords or else they would file a rape case against him. Once the accused obtained the ATM card passwords, they withdrew Rs 22,500 from the complainant’s accounts,” said the official.

Based on which, a case was registered at the Seemapuri police station under relevant sections of the IPC and investigation was initiated, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, based on technical surveillance and local intelligence, the trio accused were arrested from different parts of the North-east Delhi. They confessed to their crime.

“During sustained interrogation, the accused disclosed that once they took out the money, they threatened Avdhesh not to approach the police or they would frame him in a rape case,” said the officer.

Further investigation is underway.