New Delhi: Police have arrested two more alleged extortionists linked to two organised syndicates that used to target traffic police personnel. The gangs allegedly covertly recorded and manipulated videos of officers on duty and used them to blackmail and extort money. Ten people have been arrested.The two accused, arrested in separate operations, were identified as Amir Chaudhary and Sanjay Gupta. “The case was registered on the complaint of Delhi Traffic Police personnel when a commercial LGV tried to evade checking by displaying a fake ‘March 03′ sticker claiming exemption from challans,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sanjeev Yadav said.
The case was filed under Section 112 (organised crime) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigation, including analysis of WhatsApp groups used by drivers, revealed two syndicates running a parallel illegal system of challan “exemptions”. The syndicates cheated vehicle owners and extorted money from traffic cops by secretly recording them during challan proceedings and manipulating the videos to create false bribery complaints. The gangs used the manipulated videos to threaten these officers with suspension, departmental inquiry, vigilance action or false criminal cases if they didn’t help the syndicate. Jeeshan Ali and Rajkumar alias Raju Meena were identified as the masterminds of the syndicates. Both have been arrested.Chaudhary, a cab driver, was an associate of Ali and was caught red-handed while collecting extortion money from a govt official. Gupta was trained by Meena and his associate Riyazuddin to prepare manipulated videos.
