Rural police struggle to solve extortion call cases

An immigration firm owner from Jagraon city received a death threat from an international mobile number. The caller demanded money from him and warned him of dire consequences, if he did not pay the same.

The complainant informed the police about the call, after which the Jagraon police initiated the investigation.

The victim (name withheld due to security reasons) in a complaint to the police said the threat was given from a foreign number but the extortion amount was yet to be confirmed. After receiving the complaint, the police had started the investigation by taking the mobile number and other information of the unidentified suspect.

Earlier also, some businessmen in the city have received similar threats, some of whom have been provided security by the police. Now, the police are also probing whether any gang is behind the threat or whether some known person is trying to scare him to extort money.

A senior police official said taking the matter seriously, the police had launched a probe to identify the person and an unidentified person was booked in the case. Sometimes, some apps were used to make such calls through which the caller’s number was displayed as of some foreign country. The official also suspected that some fraudsters might be making extortion calls to instil fear and extort money.

On July 5, hardware store owner Jatinder Singh of Rumi village, Chajjawal, got a second lease of life. When he was going home from the shop, two bike-borne persons fired at him but a bullet whizzed past and he had a narrow escape. After the attack, he got an extortion call from an international number two days later. On July 6, the Ludhiana rural police had registered a case against US-based Rupinder Singh of Tarewala in Moga and two others. On July 7, Jatinder received a WhatsApp call from a foreign number (with a US country code) and the caller said next time he would be killed if Rs 50 lakh extortion money is not paid. In the case, the two-bike borne assailants are yet to be identified by the rural police.

Ludhiana