A prosthetic thumb, a smartwatch, and an extortion letter demanding ₹5 crore landed on the doorstep of a 50-year-old Shahdara resident — kicking off a weird extortion try that ended with the arrest of his good friend of 30 years.
Abhishek Jain was arrested on April 18, and Sachin Jain was picked up quickly after. (HT Picture)
The accused, Abhishek Kumar Jain, 45, his relative Sachin Jain, have been arrested and his minor niece was apprehended, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam stated.
The case unfolded on April 16, when Vikas Jain was approached by a minor lady who handed him a package deal, warning him that “dreaded people”, who has already killed her father, have been now after him. Contained in the brown cardboard field, Vikas discovered a severed thumb, a smartwatch with an orange band, and a two-page letter — printed in Hindi with titles in Urdu and Arabic — demanding ₹5 crore “for the people of Gaza.”
The letter instructed Vikas to write down “YS” exterior his home earlier than 8am the subsequent day and to pay inside 10 days, threatening that if he failed, the quantity would double and a member of the family can be “lessened.”
It claimed the lady’s father was killed after approaching police. “It will only cost us ₹50,000 to have one of your family members killed,” the letter warned.
The letter additionally instructed Vikas to maintain the smartwatch near his cellphone always, hinting it will observe his location.
Earlier that day, Vikas had additionally acquired a menace name however had not made a lot of it. After discussing the matter together with his household, he approached police round 8.30pm. Throughout questioning, Vikas talked about that his good friend Abhishek Jain had confronted the same menace and claimed to have paid ₹25 crore to save lots of himself. This instantly raised suspicions, Gautam stated.
Police recognized and apprehended the 17-year-old lady, who allegedly confessed that her uncle, Abhishek, had instructed her to ship the package deal. Abhishek was arrested on April 18, and Sachin Jain was picked up quickly after for allegedly arranging a person to make the threatening name for ₹35,000.
The conspiracy started unravelling with Abhishek’s interrogation. Investigators stated he had began a resort chain that failed, leaving him closely in debt, together with ₹1.5 crore owed to Vikas. “To make his plan believable, Abhishek had earlier told Vikas he had received a similar threat and had paid off the extortionists,” an investigator stated. Abhishek allegedly hoped Vikas would flip to him for assist and, in gratitude, forgive the debt.
To arrange the ruse, Abhishek bought a plastic prosthetic thumb for ₹3,500 on-line and a smartwatch for ₹500 from a Dilshad Backyard store. He typed the menace letter on his cell phone and bought it printed at an area retailer, police stated.
“He wanted Vikas to believe that keeping the smartwatch close would allow extortionists to track him,” Gautam stated.
The FIR was registered underneath Part 308(5) (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, officers stated.