Neighbour’s prosperity irked him

Accused made threat calls to victim posing as member of terrorist group, demanding he pay Rs 2 crore

Neighbour's prosperity irked him

Accused made threat calls to victim posing as member of terrorist group, demanding he pay Rs 2 crore

He was jealous of his neighbour's wealth and so thought of an idea to ruin him. Parvesh Kumar (22) allegedly made some extortion calls to his neighbour, claiming to be a member of a terrorist group. The accused also exploded an incendiary device near his house to make him believe that he was really a member of a militant organisation.

Regret! Parvesh Kumar crying outside the police headquarters in New
Delhi on Wednesday. PIC/Imtiyaz Khan

DCP, crime, Ashok Chand said that the accused youth, identified as Parvesh Kumar, was finally nabbed by police from Ghazipur, east Delhi, after his victim neighbour lodged a complaint that he is receiving extortion calls from a terrorist group. The official said that the accused works as supervisor in a construction company.

The businessman lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police's crime branch on August 30, saying that an extortionist, who claimed to be a member of a terrorist organisation, threatened him to pay Rs two crore. He also said an incendiary device had exploded near his house on August 13. "Subsequently, the businessman received threat calls demanding him to pay Rs two crore or else he, along with his family members, would
be killed with a high intensity explosive device," Ashok Chand, deputy commissioner of police, crime and
railways, said.

After investigations, police arrested the businessman's neighbour Kumar, who confessed his crime. Chand said during interrogation, Kumar said initially he had friendly relations with his neighbour. But later, he could not bear to see his neighbour getting rich, while his economic condition remained unchanged.

Lie, cheat, steal
"His neighbour's economic growth irked Kumar. He further stated that his neighbour had loaned some amount of money to his family and had recently demanded back the same, which led to a verbal argument between the two. He said he got agitated and decided to extort money from him," Chand said. To intimidate his neighbour, Kumar got blasted an incendiary device near his house, which he prepared using inflammable materials used in crackers.

However, it was an extremely low intensity blast, therefore, the fuel tank did not catch fire. Kumar learnt how to make incendiary device from the Internet. "He then claimed to be a member of a terrorist organisation and made threat calls from SIM cards obtained on fake identities, asking his neighbour to cough up Rs two crore or he would eliminate his family through a high intensity blast," Chand said.

Extortionist cop
A Delhi Police constable was arrested in Chanakyapuri on 12 September for allegedly extorting money from people, mostly young couples, coming to the Nehru Park. Constable Valeen Javed, who was posted with New Ashok Nagar station, threatened young couples to implicate them. The constable was caught when he tried the trick on Taj Hotel manager T.S. Suriyal, who was waiting for his friend near Niti Marg.