4 held for orchestrating firing at bizman’s house to extort money

New Delhi: Delhi Police has arrested four men for allegedly conspiring to extort money from a Delhi-based businessman by orchestrating a firing at his residence in New Usmanpur, officials said on Sunday.

The accused allegedly hired two shooters to fire at the businessman’s house and left behind a threatening note, while one of them later offered to settle the matter for several lakhs of rupees, investigators said.

Police said they unravelled the alleged conspiracy through CCTV footage analysis, technical surveillance and interrogation, adding that efforts are on to arrest the two shooters and others involved in the case.

The accused have been identified as Ekant Bhati alias Sanju Bhati alias Masterji (32), Akash alias Veeru (24), Monty and Ashish Dedha, police said. The incident took place at 12.55 am on October 15, when police received information about firing at a house in New Usmanpur in north Delhi.

The complainant, who owns a wholesale T-shirt shop in the Gandhi Nagar cloth market, told police that he heard a gunshot near the main gate of his residence.

When he examined the CCTV cameras installed at his house, he found that two masked men arrived on a motorcycle, with the pillion rider first throwing an object inside the premises and then firing a shot at the main gate before fleeing, police said.

A threatening slip was subsequently found near the gate, while the businessman also reported receiving an extortion demand from a US number, they said.

After registering a case under the relevant provisions of BNS and Arms Act, police examined CCTV footage from the area, in which a man identified as Monty was seen signalling towards the shooters with his thumb, officials said.