The Ludhiana police have busted a major extortion racket by arresting four members of a notorious gang that was allegedly planning to target a prominent businessman for extortion and execute a big crime in the city.
The Crime Branch team seized one pistol, cartridges, 300 gm of heroin and a car from the suspects.
According to information shared by DCP (Crime) Harpal Singh, ADCP (Crime) Amandeep Singh Brar and inspector Navdeep Singh, a Crime Branch team was patrolling the Pakhowal Road area on a tip-off regarding suspicious persons and drug peddlers.
During checking, information was received that Abhijit Singh, alias Mand (26), of Bhai Himmat Singh Nagar, Dugri, Manya Sahni (20) of Jawahar Camp, Ankush Yadav (25) of Bhai Himmat Singh Nagar, Sukhman Singh, Yuvraj Singh (20), also from Dugri, and other unidentified persons had formed a gang.
Investigation revealed that the alleged mastermind of the gang, Namit Sharma, was operating from abroad and directing activities while his accomplices were threatening people, collecting extortion money and creating an atmosphere of fear in cities of the state. The gang was also planning to target a big businessman and commit a major crime in the city.
Acting swiftly on information, the police registered a case at the Sadar police station and arrested Abhijit, Manya, Sukhman and Ankush.
During the search, a .32 bore pistol, a magazine and three cartridges were recovered from Abhijit while 300 gm of heroin, an electronic weighing scale and a Maruti Swift car were seized from Manya.
Police records show that some of the arrested suspects already face serious cases, including attempt to murder, robbery and other heinous crimes.
