Panchkula builder gets ₹60lakh extortion call; FIR registered

An unidentified man was booked on Tuesday for allegedly making an extortion call to a Panchkula builder asking him to pay up ₹60 lakh or face dire consequences.

The complainant Devdutt Verma, of Panchkula’s Sector 20, told police he runs a construction business and his construction site is located in Phase 2, Mohali. Verma stated that while he was on his way to work on Tuesday, at around 1 pm, he received several calls from an unknown person on Whatsapp.

“I stopped my car on the side to attend the call. The caller told me he knows my residence, the car I own, its registration number and other details related to me. He told me to arrange ₹60 lakh immediately saying he would tell me where to bring it,” the complainant told the police. The unidentified caller also threatened to abduct the complainant.

Police said the caller sent him threatening voice messages on Whatsapp asking for money. Station house officer (SHO) police station Panchkula Sector 20, inspector Dalip Kumar said the complainant also submitted the mobile number from which he received the calls. “A case of extortion was registered initially. Since the incident reportedly occurred in Mohali, the case falls under the jurisdiction of the police station there, so we have sent a zero FIR in Mohali in this regard,” said the SHO.

RECENT EXTORTION CASE
Last year on December 24, three men had entered the office of a scrap dealer in Pinjore with pistols, while one accomplice remained seated in the car. They made him talk to a turbaned man who had asked him to hand over ₹50,000 to the three aides or else they would shoot him. The victim had given them ₹20,000. Later, on December 26, unidentified assailants opened fire at his office and pasted a threat letter written in Punjabi, bearing the name of gangster Dilpreet Singh Dahan on the office window wherein they threatened to eliminate him and his family. On January 6, police had brought gangster Dilpreet from Bathinda central jail to Panchkula in connection with this case and another 2017 carjacking case.