Police arrest 19-year-old youth, apprehend two juveniles who tried to extort money from restaurateur

The police have arrested a 19-year-old youth and apprehended two juveniles for allegedly demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from a restaurant owner in outer Delhi's Bawana area, officials said on Monday.

The 19-year-old has been identified as Rhytham, a resident of Rohini Sector 16, they said.

On July 18, the restaurant owner in Bawana filed a complaint in which he alleged that someone had called and threatened him of dire consequences if he failed to pay Rs 50 lakh, police said.

When he refused, an unknown person fired a shot in front of his restaurant a few hours later.

During investigation, police found that the phone, which was used by the accused, was snatched a few hours back.

On July 20, the accused again fired several shots at the house and the restaurant of the complainant.

The restaurant owner again received a call from the same person on August 5, who threatened him with dire consequences. This time again, the phone was found to be snatched, a senior police officer said.

The police then contacted the two people whose phones were snatched and based on their description, the portraits of the accused were made.

The police found that a person named Parmod had been moving suspiciously in the area with some unknown boys.

"Police got a tip-off and laid a trap near Rohini Sector 18 and arrested Rhytham. He was the person who made extortion calls and fired at restaurant and the house of the complainant," said Gaurav Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North).

Through Rhytham, the police also apprehended the two juveniles.

Interrogation revealed that Parmod lived opposite the complainant's house and he had hatched the conspiracy to extort money. We are trying to nab him, the police officer said.

One country-made pistol, one live cartridge, two cars, one bike and two mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the accused, they added.