Extortion gang busted in Bhubaneswar; 6 arrested

Bhubaneswar: Saheed Nagar police on Tuesday busted an extortion gang in the capital city and arrested six members of the gang.

As per reports, the extortionists were involved in the Tankapani Road firing incident, where a security guard deployed outside the office of Khatta-Meetha catering service had sustained bullet injuries after two unidentified miscreants opened fired at him on March 16.
According to sources, the gang had been threatening and extorting money from the owner of the catering service since 2017. The gang used to threaten the businessman over phone and extort Rs 1 lakh every month.

In March, the gang members had demanded Rs 1crore from the businessman but he had refused to give them money. In order to threaten him, two members of the gang had opened fire at the security guard outside the complainant’s office and fled the spot.

Acting on a specific input, the police laid a trap and arrested six members of the gang. During interrogation, the accused confessed that they had opened fire at the security guard in order to threaten the owner and extort money from him.

The owner of the catering business also informed that one of the accused was working with him.

"Six members of a extortion gang were arrested, including a person who had opened fire at the security guard. A pistol was also seized from the possession of the accused, " informed Satyajit Mohanty, Police Commissioner.

"The gang was threatening and extorting money from the businessman. The prime accused had hired two persons and directed them to threaten the businessmen with a country-made pistol, when he denied to give money," informed Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahoo.