Bijnor: Two more persons, including a PAC constable, were arrested by Bijnor police on Monday in an alleged honey-trap and extortion racket in which women were used to threaten “targeted persons with rape, gangrape, Pocso and other serious cases to extract money or force settlements”.
They were arrested under BNS sections 61 (2) and 308 (5), on a complaint by one Mohd Ehsan. Five accused — Zulfeqar alias Babbu Langda, Afzal, Guddi, Kunti and Preeti — were arrested on Sept 7. In a similar case, Nahtaur police filed a case against nine people, including a political party functionary and a media person, for allegedly threatening a party supporter with a false rape case and demanding Rs 10 lakh.
Police said investigation has indicated that Zulfeqar allegedly operated the group, with Asif, Dilshad and others acting as associates. Bijnor SP Krishna Kumar Bishnoi said the gang identified those involved in personal, property or old disputes and then used women and other associates to put pressure on them. The arrested accused were identified as Mohd Asif, posted with the 24th Battalion PAC in Moradabad, and Mohd Dilshad, a property dealer from Jhalu. The complainant alleged that members of the group threatened to implicate him in a false case and demanded money. When demands were not met, serious criminal cases and court complaints were allegedly used as instruments of blackmail and extortion.