Nine more arrested in firing & extortion case in Khargone

Khargone: Nine more persons were arrested in the case of firing at a bio-cotton trader's residence and Rs10 crore extortion threat made in the name of Lawrence gang.With this, police have arrested 12 persons including two main conspirators, in this case so far while four, including Lawrence's key associate Harry Boxer, are still at large.Addressing a press conference on Friday afternoon, Superintendent of Police Ravindra Verma said that the accused had opened fire at house of businessman Dilip Singh Rathore in Bhilgaon and later demanded Rs 10 crore through WhatsApp calls and messages sent from international numbers. The caller had identified himself as ‘Harry Boxer' and claimed to be associated with Lawrence gang, threatening Rathore of dire consequences if the money was not paid."Police had earlier arrested the main conspirators Sachin Patidar, a resident of Karoli in Manawar (Dhar district), and Lokendra Panwar from Ingoria police station area in Ujjain district and Amit Badgotya, who conducted the recce," the SP said.On Friday, police arrested nine more person --- Rajpal Chandrawat (Ratnakhedi, Nagda Mandi, Ujjain), Malkhan alias Vijendra Sisodia, Shah Rukh Khan, Krishnapal alias Kenya Solanki, Ansh alias Anshu Pal, Shiva Bilgade, Ritik alias Janjeera Panwar, Rohit Malviya (all residents of Dewas district) and Kase Khan (Balsamud, Kasrawad, Khargone). He said that one more accused, Raja Khan, is currently lodged in Dewas jail.The SP said that Harichand Jat alias ‘Harry Boxer', Javed Khan, Rahul Baba Binjhana (both Dewas district residents) and Ravi Chauhan are absconding while Kuldeep Singh Rajput and Sandeep Prajapati have been taken into custody on Friday evening."To crack the case, Khargone police formed six special teams, which were sent to various locations, including Gujarat, Nagda and Dewas. The coordinated efforts, supported by technical analysis and CCTV footage, led to the identification and arrest of the accused," he said.Police seized three cars and two motorcycles, four pistols,10 cartridges and 10 mobile phones, he added."As per the investigation, the crime stemmed from a financial dispute. Sachin Patidar and Lokendra Panwar were known to the victim Dilip Rathore and had ongoing monetary disagreements with him. Lokendra shared the issue with Sandeep Prajapati, who had connections with Rajpal Chandrawat, who allegedly had links to the Lawrence gang. Rajpal then sent associate Amit to identify the target's house in Bhilgaon," SP said."The accused made multiple attempts to execute the firing. On March 2, an initial attempt failed, then on March 11, shooters Shiva, Krishnapal and Anshu attempted firing but failed due to a malfunction in the pistol. Finally, on March 16, Malkhan provided a motorcycle and weapon to Anshpal, Shiva and Rohit, who then fired at the house and recorded a video," he said.The video was sent to Rajpal, who forwarded it to ‘Harry Boxer'. Subsequently, the victim and his son Satyendra received threatening calls and videos demanding Rs 10 crore, said SP.Rathore, in a video statement released on Friday, alleged that the main conspirator was still untouched and has submitted a written complaint to SP and state assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar.