Ludhiana resident held for making extortion calls to BJP leader

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 27

The Khanna police arrested a man who had demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh from a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The suspect had threatened to kill her if the extortion amount was not given to him.

Khanna SP Pragya Jain said the suspect had been identified as Rajneesh Sharma of New Shivpuri Road, here. The man was already facing five FIRs which were registered against him at the Daresi and Jodhewal police stations in 2019.

After Khanna BJP leader Manisha Sood complained about the extortion calls received from an unknown person demanding Rs 3 lakh from her, a complaint was filed with the Khanna police. A case of extortion and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the unidentified man was registered by the Khanna police.

The police said Rajneesh had made calls to the mobile number of the BJP leader for extortion. Now, the suspect had been arrested.

During investigation, it came to light that Rajneesh was earlier accused of harassing and blackmailing a Ludhiana-based girl after which her family members had got FIRs registered against him at various police stations.

To take revenge, Rajneesh had used Google Pay QR code of the account of the girl’s brother and sought a ransom of Rs 3 lakh from the BJP leader. The suspect wanted to falsely implicate the girl’s brother in the ransom case, the police said.

The Khanna police said they investigated the case using technical methods. The police had asked telecom companies to block fake SIM cards. Further investigation into the case was underway.

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