Extortionists spreading tentacles

NEW DELHI: Several back to back cases of extortion in the national capital have put the Delhi Police on its toes. While two cases have been reported to be running from Tihar jail, another was reported from a local criminal in Preet Vihar threatening a businessman and demanding five crore from him.

What is more worrying is the fact that atleast two of the extortion racket busted by Delhi police, one by West district and another by Central district have got roots in Tihar jail. The criminals inside the jail premises were found to be running the extortion racket through their goons outside. In two of the instances, the voice recording samples were also obtained hinting that the criminals used Whatsapp and Messenger from inside the jail to threaten their targets outside the jail.

This has given enough reason for the Tihar jail authorities to have a quick scan within the jail premises on how the criminals are not just getting the mobiles easily but are also running the extortion racket from inside the jail without a care for security measures in place. Tihar though time to time does surprise checks inside the cells and takes precautions that no phone is smuggled inside the jail premises but incidents like these where criminals are found extorting money from easy prey outside has raised many eyebrows. “We are investigating how the Whatsapp recording, in fact a tutorial on extortion was sent to one of the criminals outside the Tihar jail from within the jail by the mastermind,” said a senior officer.

Two cases have been reported to be running from Tihar jail while another was reported from Preet Vihar