Woman held for trying to extort Rs1cr from doctor couple

Nagpur: A woman, mother of two daughters, was arrested on Wednesday for threatening a doctor to kidnap and kill his children, in an attempt to extort Rs1 crore. The woman, a fashion designer, demanded the extortion amount in a letter sent through a courier company. The police traced the woman with the help of CCTV footage.
The Beltarodi police led by senior PI Vijay Akot on Wednesday produced the woman before the judicial magistrate, who sent her to police custody till June 19.
Following directives from senior officials, Beltarodi PI Akot refused to divulge the identity of the accused. Police said Dr Tushar Pande, 48, a resident of Somalwada, and his doctor wife own Utkarsh Maternity Home at Manish Nagar. On June 11, at around 5.30pm he received a letter through courier. Dr Pande found that the letter by an unknown sender had threatened to harm his family and demanded Rs1 crore. “The extortionist had threatened to kill his two children if he informed the police,” police said.
The same day, Dr Pande approached Beltarodi police station and lodged a complaint against the unknown extortionist. Dr Pande had been asked to keep the money in a bag near a garbage point in Manish Nagar locality on June 17 at 4am.
The police registered a case and started investigations under DCP Akshay Shinde and ACP Nilesh Palve with Akot and PSI Vikas Manpiya.
First, the police checked the courier centre from where the letter was booked for delivery. It then crossed-checked CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity. It helped them identify the suspect as a middle-aged woman who visited the courier centre riding on a two-wheeler.
The police then screened CCTV footage on all roads which the unidentified woman drover her two-wheeler. CCTV footage revealed that the unidentified woman entered Shipli Society near UCO Bank, Manish Nagar.
The verification of the two-wheeler’s registration number revealed the exact address of the accused. The police picked up the woman, and during interrogation she spilled the beans. The police arrested her and also seized the two-wheeler used in the crime.
Police said the woman and her husband were Dr Pande’s patients, and under his treatment after testing positive for Covid-19 a couple of months ago.
Police said the husband of the accused works in a telecom company and they had taken a home loan of Rs60 lakh. This led to financial burden on the family and disruption in their married life. So, the woman hatched the plan to extort money from the doctor.
“We are trying to ascertain if she had an accomplice in the crime,” said senior PI Akot.