The Haryana STF nabbed a six-person gang that was making threats to state legislators on July 31, 2022. Four MLAs have so far reported threats and extortion calls to the police. They reportedly got extortion and death threats from multiple phone numbers that could be linked to Middle Eastern countries between June 24 and June 28.

Haryana DGP PK Agrawal assigned STF to conduct the investigation (Headquarters). According to STF IG B Satheesh Balan, a technical study of these cellphones has shown that they are registered in Middle Eastern countries and were handled out of Pakistan.

Numerous former Punjab MLAs have reportedly also received comparable threats from mobile numbers. Many languages and speech patterns were used during interactions with MLAs, including the Mumbaikar tone and Punjabi accent.

STF IG B Satheesh Balan informed, “We had formed an SIT to investigate these cases. The two-week operation was personally monitored and supervised by DGP, Haryana. STF conducted a technical analysis of these mobile numbers and IP addresses. This involved five separate teams working on this technical analysis.”

He added, “While working on this link, the STF (H) prepared a strategic plan through which the STF (H) team started receiving these threat and extortion calls. The STF (H) accordingly asked the account number and mobile numbers to complete the transaction with the extortionists. To track these account numbers, two parallel teams conducted raids across Mumbai and Muzaffarpur, Bihar.”

Two of the gang’s members, Dulesh Alam and Badre Alam, were nabbed in Mumbai. 20 Passbook/Cheque Books, 18 ATM cards, 14 fake SIM cards, a diary, and 5 mobile phones were taken from them.

It was revealed that these offenders typically gave clients between Rs. 15,000 and 20,000 to entice them into opening bank accounts. Then, to manage these accounts, they would carry all the required paperwork (passport, checkbooks, ATM card, and ATM pin) on their person.

These searches were conducted with the unflinching help of STF Haryana, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, STF Bihar, and the Bihar Police. Around ten Pakistani nationals were named by the STF Haryana during interrogation as the conduits for the extortion and threats.

IG Balan further added, “These accused do not belong to any criminal gang or terrorist organization. This in fact is a gang of very sharp criminals who are involved in professional fraud, and money laundering and have their members across Pakistan, the Middle East, and India. People sitting in other countries would entice victims by making calls in the name of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ or lotteries or by extortion calls and would make them transfer money to the account numbers given by Dulesh or Amit. Dulesh and Amit then either withdraw this money via ATMs or would transfer this amount to the Indian accounts of their Pakistan-based gang members.”

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.