Two ex-army men among six held for extorting Delhi businessman

Two former Indian Army men have been arrested with four of their associates for extorting a Delhi businessman of Rs.5 lakh by posing as sales tax and income tax officials, police said on Tuesday.

The former army men -- identified as Mahesh Kumar, 33, and Sunil Kumar, 34 -- were arrested along with Kuldeep, 23, Sandeep Jhangra, 28, Vipin Kakkar, 29, and Priyabrat Rathi, 31, on Monday from Pitampura area in west Delhi.

Police said two licensed revolvers, five cartridges and Rs.3.4 lakh of the extorted money was recovered from them.

"Posing as income tax and sales tax officials, the gang conducted a fake raid at the godown of the businessman on September 2," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav said.

"They extorted Rs.5 lakh from the Karol Bagh-based businessman. The victim lodged a complaint when the accused again demanded Rs.2 lakh," the official said.

Sandeep, the kingpin who hails from Bhiwani in Haryana, runs a call centre in Pitampura.

Mahesh joined the army but ran away during training. Later, he joined the Delhi Home Guards. Somehow, he procured a small arms licence from Haryana and purchased a revolver.

Police said Mahesh also started working as a part-time personal security officer (PSO) on a call-to-call basis as per requirements.

Sunil is also an ex-serviceman and took his retirement after 15 years of service in the army. In 2010, he also procured a licence for small arms from Jammu and Kashmir.

Police said that after his retirement, Sunil purchased a revolver from the ordnance factory and started working as a PSO.