District Cong president arrested on extortion charge in Jharkhand

The Congress party's Dhanbad president Vaibhav Sinha and his two body guards were arrested today for allegedly keeping five men in captivity at his restaurant for extortion.

Superintendent of Police Piyush Pandey told reporters that the arrest followed complaints that Sinha with the help of his two bodyguards allegedly thrashed the five youths who had gone to his restaurant and damaged their car as well after holding them captive.

The Congress leader also fired from a pistol on restaurant window to implicate the youths, the police officer said.

Sinha, however, gave a different version to the police, claiming the five youths had demanded beef at the restaurant and beat up the staff after being refused to be served the same.

Sinha also said when he tried to help the staff, the youths fired at him but the bullet hit the window. He also handed over two pistols to the police, claiming the youths had fired at him with those.

The police found that all the five youths were locked in a room of the restaurant and were bleeding, the SP said.

After investigating the matter, the police found that Sinha's version was wrong and subsequently two cases were filed against the Congress leader and half-a-dozen staff of his restaurant, the SP said.

While the police has lodged an FIR under the Arms Act, another case has been registered as per a complaint filed by a victim, Shahid Iraqui, for alleged extortion, abduction and looting.

In his complaint, Shahid said he along with a girl had gone to the restaurant on August 16 when the staff teased the girl. When he protested, the staff and Sinha's bodyguards thrashed him and seized his driving license and other cards.

The youth did not inform the police fearing family members would get to know about his affair, the police officer said.

Yesterday, Shahid had gone to the restaurant with his four friends to get back his driving license and other documents, when Sinha's bodyguards demanded Rs 20,000, which triggered the incident, the SP said.