NEW DELHI: A 28-year-old man, suspected to be the kingpin of an interstate gang involved in extortion, has been arrested from South Delhi, police said on Sunday. Accused Saddam Hussain was carrying a reward of Rs 20,000. He had been absconding for nine months, they said. According to police, Hussain has confessed to the police that he and his gang members extorted money from at least 50 people in Delhi in the last six months. The gang had also tried to extort Rs 20 lakh from an advocate in the national capital, they said. Explaining the gang’s modus operandi, a senior police officer said its members used to befriend people on social media by posing as women and offered them “online services”. Hussain’s role was to record the targets in compromising position while on video calls and later extort money, threatening that they would otherwise upload the footage on social media. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Jasmeet Singh said, “Our team has arrested an absconding member of an interstate gang of Mewat-based extortionists. He indulged in committing heinous crimes like extortion in Delhi-NCR and adjoining states. He was arrested on August 6 near Satbari village in Chhatarpur.” A single shot pistol with two live cartridges was recovered from him, the DCP said. “Hussain was wanted in a case of online extortion, blackmailing and criminal intimidation of a person through social media in Delhi and was declared a proclaimed offender by the trial court on May 22,” the DCP said. To park the extorted money, the gang used bank accounts of poor and illiterate people by offering them some cash, he added.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/extortion-gang-kingpin-arrested-in-delhi/articleshow/93412095.cms
