Three arrested in Delhi for extortion

A businessman and his two employees were arrested Thursday for making extortion calls to another trader after claiming to be members of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's gang, police said.

Sameer Verma, 30, and his two employees - Ajeet Gupta, 19, and Hemant, 26 - were arrested from north Delhi's Shakurbasti area after they made extortion calls to Bhavesh Yadav Thursday morning.

The three had Wednesday made many calls to Yadav and demanded Rs.2 crore within a week.

They identified themselves as members of "D company", a term used to describe an international organised gang controlled by Dawood Ibrahim.

Police said they also threatened Yadav that if their demand of Rs.2 crore was not met, they would eliminate him and his family members.

They said they knew where his children were studying and threatened to kidnap them.

Police said the accused businessman, who was known to the victim, resorted to the stratagem to overcome losses he had incurred in his business.

Four mobile phones along with four SIM cards, which were being used for threatening and extortion, were also seized from them, police said.