2 held for extortion, threatening trader

The accused were arrested from Rajouri Garden on January 1 and have been identified as Aslam Ansari 31, alias Badshah, and Phool Singh 25, alias Guddu. Ansari has worked in some TV serials and a movie, the police said.

The businessman had been receiving threatening calls from Badshah, a 8220;henchman of Chhota Shakil8221;, since November 23. The calls were being made from a Mumbai number, which was put under surveillance after the businessman filed a complaint with the Crime Branch. The police said the caller would speak in a 8220;Mumbai dialect8221;.

Ansari told the police that he developed an interest in acting while working for an event management company. 8220;He moved to Mumbai in 2001 and started getting small roles in movies and TV serials. He worked in a movie, 8216;Woh Tere Naam8217;, and many TV serials like 8216;Kahin Kisi Roz8217;, 8216;Sahab Bibi Ka Gulam8217; and 8216;Kashish8217;,8221; Neeraj Thakur, DCP Crime Branch, said.

In 2007, he married a singer, Ratna Singh, alias Maria, and moved to Delhi. He started his own garments factory under the name of Maria Fabricators in Raghubir Nagar, where Phool Singh joined him as a supervisor. Before this, Singh was working in a factory owned by the complainant.

8220;Ansari was dependent on Singh for business. When their business didn8217;t pick up, they planned to extort money from Singh8217;s former employer. Ansari went and brought a SIM card from Mumbai. He then started making the extortion calls,8221; the police said.