Srinagar: Police Thursday busted an extortion gang  here by arresting  four persons.
Superintendent of Police Srinagar city North, Tahir Saleem said that Maharaj Gunj Police received a complaint from Qaiser Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Maharaj Gunj, that  he was robbed on knifepoint  after he boarded an auto- rickshaw from Jamalatta Chowk in downtown Srinagar.
“The complainant was not carrying any money and thus the extortionist forced him to take out cash from HDFC ATM and robbed him off Rs 15000. The same person was again robbed off Rs 25,000 near Jamalata Chowk in the same manner after few days,” SP city said.
“After the twin incidents, the complainant received threatening  calls warning him of dire consequences in case he informed anyone about these incidents,” he said adding that after analyzing the phone calls four persons were arrested.
The video footage of the ATM was obtained and the cell phone where from threat calls were made was analyzed.     “A gang of four persons was identified to be involved in extorting money from innocent people. Police accordingly registered an FIR vide number 24/2014 under section 392 RPC,” he said adding that out of four accused two are auto-drivers.
The arrested extortionists have been identified as Adnan Bashir Zargar, Owais Harbool, Shahnawaz Ahmad Dar and Manzoor Ahmad Khan, all residents of downtown Srinagar.
An amount of Rs 45000 has been recovered from them and the knife used in commission of crime has also been seized.

KR Desk