Daltonganj (Jharkhand): Two alleged henchmen of notorious gangster Prince Khan have been arrested in Jharkhand’s Palamu in connection with an extortion bid involving a ransom demand of Rs 1 crore from a gold merchant in the district’s Medininagar.
The accused allegedly demanded the ransom from Ranjit Soni, owner of Gold House, a prominent jewellery store in the city, by sending WhatsApp voice messages in the name of Prince Khan, who is believed to be operating from a Gulf country.
The messages also carried threats to kill the businessman if the money was not paid.
Palamu Superintendent of Police Reeshma Ramesh said at a press conference that this was the first instance in Medininagar where an extortion demand had been made using Prince Khan’s name.
She said the victim lodged a written complaint at the city police station on December 21, following which an FIR was registered, and a special investigation team was constituted under the leadership of the Sadar SDPO.
Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a raid late on Thursday night, December 25, at an under-construction municipal corporation building near Congress Bhavan, arresting Mohammad Nazim and Murtaza Ansari. Both are residents of Pahari Mohalla under the city police station limits.
Police recovered two country-made pistols, two live cartridges, two mobile phones, an iron pipe, a jewellery shop receipt, a car, and a motorcycle from the accused. The car was found to be registered in the name of Nazim’s father.
Investigation revealed that Nazim had purchased jewellery from the same shop around seven months ago, giving him detailed knowledge of the shop’s layout and operations.
During interrogation, both accused confessed to conducting regular reconnaissance of the shop. Two days ago, they had allegedly shot a video of the premises and sent it to Prince Khan.
The SP said Rs 24,000 was transferred to Nazim’s account on December 22 to carry out a firing incident to create fear. The accused had planned to open fire near the shop on Thursday, but were arrested before they could execute the plan.
Police also confirmed that Mohammad Nazim has a criminal record. Further investigation is underway to trace other links in the extortion network.
(IANS)
