Digital News Channel head held for Extortion in Delhi

A 37-year-old man operating a digital news channel from Noida has been arrested for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 5 crore from a South Delhi-based Lawyer by threatening to upload a sting operation that was conducted on him, Police said on Friday. The alleged extortionist Afsar Ali alias AK Chaudhary has previously been involved in three crimes, including vehicle theft & cheating, registered against him in Delhi & Uttar Pradesh between 2010 & 2015, the Police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur said that Ali was arrested following an extortion case registered recently at the Greater Kailash Police Station on the complaint of a Lawyer, who alleged that he had been receiving extortion calls.

The LAwyer told the Police that the alleged extortionists were threatening to defame him by uploading a sting operation conducted against him on their news portal if he didn't pay them Rs 5 crore, said Thakur. The Police have withheld the complainant’s name.

During the probe, the DCP said, the investigating team learnt that the suspect & his associates had also visited the complainant’s office & tried to get details about his family members. Investigators scanned the CCTV camera footage of the office & obtained the suspect’s photograph.

“Through technical & manual investigation we identified the suspect as Afsar Ali & learnt that he was running a news portal in Noida. We arrested Ali after collecting details about his whereabouts,” said DCP Thakur, adding that Ali confessed to the crime during the interrogation.

Explaining the modus operandi, DCP Thakur said that Ali, in connivance with his associates, who are job seekers, would identify prospective targets on the basis of their lavish lifestyle & cars they owned. They used to conduct detailed reconnaissance of the targets & met them posing as buyers of farmhouse land, he said.

The DCP added that “While carrying out the deal, the alleged extortionists would conduct a sting operation. Thereafter, based on the person’s financial condition, they would try to extort the person for money was raised & intimidate them".

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