2 held for trying to extort businessman, shooting at guard

GURUGRAM: Two youths were arrested from Khandsa village, for threatening and trying to extort money from an industrialist with factory in Sector 37.
Four youths had allegedly held the security guard of garment export firm Sun Merchandising at gunpoint in a surprise raid during the intervening night between Wednesday and Thursday, and fired at him, while demanding Rs 1 crore as protection money from the company owner.

Two of the four youths were arrested on Thursday, with two others are still at large.

The industrialist, Lalit Jain, alleged that anti-social elements have been creating trouble in Sector 37 for a while. The industrial area has around 1,000 small and medium scale industries, mainly manufacturers of automotive components and garments.

In his complaint, security guard Manjeet Rai, who was on night duty (8pm to 8am) on August 15, said around midnight, two youths arrived at the gates on a white scooter and inquired about the owner. “When I mentioned Mr Jain’s name, they pulled out a gun and asked me to tell Mr Jain on Thursday morning to pay them Rs 1 crore,” said Rai, adding they fired a bullet when he tried to run away, which missed him. The accused then snatched the security guard’s mobile phone and ran away.

Sector 10 SHO Yashwant Yadav said they sent a team to the spot after being informed, recorded statements and registered a case under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 34 (common intention), 379A (snatching), 387 (extortion) of IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act.

He said within hours of the attack, police conducted raids on Thursday and arrested two youths from Khandsa village, identified as Rohit Lamba and Pradeep alias Panni. “During interrogation, they revealed there were two more people on a motorbike at the time of the incident,” said police spokesperson Subhash Bokan.