Daltonganj: Police in Jharkhand’s Palamu district have arrested two alleged associates of notorious gangster Prince Khan in connection with an extortion attempt involving a demand of Rs 1 crore from a gold trader in Medininagar.
The accused allegedly targeted Ranjit Soni, proprietor of a well-known jewellery outlet, Gold House, by sending WhatsApp voice messages demanding ransom in the name of Prince Khan, who is suspected to be operating from a Gulf nation. The messages reportedly carried threats to kill the businessman if the demand was not met.
Addressing a press conference, Palamu Superintendent of Police Reeshma Ramesh said this was the first case in Medininagar in which an extortion bid was made using Prince Khan’s name. She said the victim filed a written complaint at the city police station on December 21, following which an FIR was registered and a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of the Sadar SDPO.
Based on specific intelligence, police carried out a late-night raid on December 25 at an under-construction municipal corporation building near Congress Bhavan, arresting Mohammad Nazim and Murtaza Ansari, both residents of Pahari Mohalla under city police station limits.
The police seized two country-made firearms, two live cartridges, two mobile phones, an iron rod, a jewellery shop receipt, a car and a motorcycle from their possession. The seized car was registered in the name of Nazim’s father.
Investigations revealed that Nazim had purchased jewellery from the same shop around seven months earlier, giving him familiarity with the shop’s layout and routine. During questioning, both accused admitted to conducting surveillance of the shop and said they had recorded a video of the premises two days ago, which was sent to Prince Khan.
The SP further disclosed that Rs 24,000 was transferred to Nazim’s bank account on December 22 to facilitate a firing incident aimed at creating fear. The accused were allegedly planning to open fire near the shop on Thursday but were arrested before carrying out the act.
Police confirmed that Mohammad Nazim has a prior criminal record, and further investigation is underway to identify other members of the extortion network.
With inputs from IANS