Man held for making extortion calls to businessman in gangster Neeraj Bawana’s name

The first call came on September 11, demanding Gupta pay Rs 5 lakh. The caller claimed to be associated with gangster Bawana and threatened to harm Gupta and his family if the demand was not met. Gupta allegedly received similar calls on September 17 and 18, leading him to file a complaint.

Police then lodged a First Information Report (FIR) under BNS section 308(4), pertaining to criminal intimidation and threats of grievous harm.

Based on the information provided by Gupta, the Crime Branch identified the caller as Nitin Machanda; he would use a Haryanvi accent during the extortion calls in an attempt to convince his victim that he was a gangster.

On receiving information that he would be near Majlis Park Metro Station, police set a trap and arrested him.

During questioning, Manchanda told police that he had allegedly made similar extortion calls to another businessman, Aman Bhalla, the owner of Aman Makeover in Adarsh Nagar. Bhalla had already lodged a complaint at Adarsh Nagar police station.

On searching Manchanda’s residence, police said they recovered the mobile phone and SIM cards used in the extortion attempts.

A resident of Rohtak’s Meham, Manchanda holds a diploma in computer hardware and once owned a mobile shop. “He fell in love with a relative of his landlord and got married to her. After that, he got jobs in different private companies, including the Delhi Metro, but left them because he thought the salary paid was insufficient. After reading news articles on social media about gangsters extorting money, he thought of making a quick buck by demanding ransom,” explained DCP (Crime Branch) Satish Kumar.