2 ‘journalists’, woman arrested on extortion charge, say police

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said that on October 3, the arrested woman — Pushpa (36) — visited the lab posing as a patient and told the owner that she had problems with her pregnancy.

“She was advised to consult a gynaecologist. The next day, the owner went out of town. Around five-six persons showed up at the lab claiming to be journalists. They then contacted the owner and claimed they had a recorded conversation of him purportedly saying he would perform a sex determination test on Pushpa. They demanded Rs 1 crore from him and threatened to telecast the recording on their news channel if they did not receive the money,” Yadav said.

Initially, the owner paid Rs 40 lakh to the accused.

Later, he filed a complaint at Punjabi Bagh police station.

On Wednesday, police received a tip-off about two of the accused — Ram Sharan and Dhan Singh — who were then arrested from Karol Bagh and Govindpuri.

The other two accused, Jai Kochar (24) and Pushpa, were subsequently arrested.

“During questioning, it was found that Sharan and Singh were freelance journalists who targeted well-established doctors and owners of nursing homes. Initially, Pushpa would approach the victim claiming to be pregnant and asking for a sex determination test. If the victim refused, they would ask questions on the topic. This conversation would be recorded by the other three and altered later. They would then blackmail their victims. They have confessed to their role in at least 50 extortion cases,” Yadav said.

Police said the gang also claimed to have given a share of the extortion money to the manager of a news channel, but this was yet to be verified.