Delhi Police busts interstate extortion gang

The Delhi Police have arrested 10 persons and claimed to have busted an interstate gang that extorted money from people by sending them fake Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons, an official said on Friday.

On the basis of a complaint by the ED, the police arrested 10 members of the extortion gang from Delhi and Kolkata. Besides several mobile phones and laptop, the police have seized fake summons documents of the ED.

"Two Kolkata businessmen, Sanjay Surekha and Mahavir Aggarwal, had received summons from ED regarding complaints of money laundering of crores of rupees and violation of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) by their companies," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Yadav said.

"When they approached the ED, it was found that no such summons was issued. Subsequently a complaint for fake summons was filed on September 2 by ED Assistant Director Kamal Singh," Yadav said.

Investigating the matter, Delhi Police teams conducted raids in different parts of the country and arrested the gang members.

While two of the extortionists, Kalyan Shukla and Gaurav Pradhan, were nabbed from Kolkata, Alex Joseph -- said to be head of the gang - along with three of his associates was arrested from Delhi earlier in the month.

"Both Kalyan Shukla and Gaurav Pradhan had tried to extort Rs 5 crore from Sanjay Surekha by assuring him they would get ED matter settled," said Yadav.

The police subsequently arrested four more persons from Delhi earlier in the week.

Joseph, who was earlier arrested in cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED, is said to be a notorious conman who was involved in importing 500 luxury cars by evading import duty of Rs 200 crore.

--IANS

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