Man held for impersonating gangsters over extortion calls in North Delhi

A 38-year-old man has been arrested by the crime branch on Sunday for allegedly making extortion and threatening calls to at least two businessmen in north Delhi using the name of a jailed gangster, the Delhi Police said on Monday.  

The man identified as Nitin Manchanda, a computer hardware engineering diploma holder from Adarsh Nagar, northwest Delhi, used the name of gangster Neeraj Bawana, currently lodged in Tihar jail, to threaten his victims, police added. 

Manchanda reportedly got the idea for the extortion scheme after learning about similar crimes committed by jailed and fugitive gangsters through social media, said investigators. The police said that because Manchanda originally hails from Haryana, he knew that many gangsters also belonged to the region or the areas of Delhi bordering it. He adopted a Haryanvi accent while making threatening calls to make his claims seem credible, they added. 

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Satish Kumar said that Manchanda was arrested near Majlis Park Metro station following an investigation into an extortion case that was registered under section 308(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Rani Bagh police station on the complaint of a local businessman.  

“The complainant alleged that he had received a call on September 11. The caller identified himself as gangster Neeraj Bawana and demanded ₹5 lakh. Subsequently, the businessman received more calls on September 17 and 18, in which the caller threatened to kill him or his family if the money was not paid,” the DCP added. 

Using technical surveillance and manual intelligence, the police identified Manchanda as the suspect. The suspect had no prior criminal background or links to actual gangsters, said police. During probe, investigators also learnt that Manchanda will be near Majlis Park Metro station and was subsequently arrested, they added. 

“His interrogation revealed that he had also made extortion calls to another businessman in Adarsh Nagar,” DCP Kumar added. Another case was registered based on this second businessman’s complaint at Adarsh Nagar police station. Police recovered the mobile phone and SIM cards used in the crimes from Manchanda.