Delhi Businessmen Getting Extortion Calls Almost Daily, Sweet Shops & Builders Main Targets

The majority of these calls originate from foreign-based gangsters or their associates, using Voice Over Internet Protocol or international phone numbers.

Delhi businesspersons have got around 160 extortion calls till October 2024, PTI reported citing police sources on Tuesday. The calls were followed by firing outside the house of the office of the targeted individual in some cases.

The data shows that the businesspersons received one call every other day. The majority of these calls originate from foreign-based gangsters or their associates, using Voice Over Internet Protocol or international phone numbers, the police sources, adding that the targets were mostly builders and property dealers, jewellers, and owners of sweet shops and car showrooms across the city.

7 Cases Reported In Just Four Days

Around 160 extortion calls were reported in around 300 days this year. Last week, seven such cases were reported in just four days where gangsters targeted a jeweller, gym owner, property dealer, sweet shop owner and a motor workshop owner among others.

On November 5, three men entered a showroom and fired in the air in Rohini. They left behind an extortion note with the names of gangsters and an amount written on it. The note mentioned, "Yogesh Dahia, Fajje Bhai and Monti Mann and Rs 10 crore". Two days later, a call was made by an international number demanding Rs 7 crore from a gym owner in Nangloi. The caller claimed to be associated with Lawrence Bishnoi's associate jailed gangster Deepak Boxer.

11 Gangs Have Been Identified By Delhi Police

Cases have been registered in all these cases and separate teams of the Special Cell and Crime Branch are working to nab the culprits, a police officer said.

A total of 133 extortion cases were reported from across Delhi till August 15 this year, according to the Delhi Police's statistics accessed by PTI. A total of 141 such cases were reported during the same period last year and the figure for 2022 was 110, as per the data. Police said 204 cases of people getting extortion calls were reported throughout 2023 and 187 in 2022.

As many as 11 gangs have been identified for making extortion calls as well as shootings and murders in the national capital region in the last few months. The gangs include Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar, Himanshu Bhau, Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, Jitender Gogi-Sampat Nehra, Hashim Baba, Sunil Tillu, Kaushal Chaudhary, Neeraj Faridpuria and Neeraj Bawana.