Cash crunch must be tough for you, pay just Rs 20 lakh in Rs 2000 notes: Extortionists in letter to doctors

MEERUT: The Centre’s demonetisation move seems to have spared none. Even the criminals have conceded that the “times are tough” and are offering “discounts” to their potential prey. Mohan Pandey, a doctor in Saharanpur, received a letter on Monday in an envelope. The cover of the envelope proclaimed that it was a notice from the Allahabad high court. However, when Pandey opened the envelope, it turned out to be a five-page extortion letter.The first page of the letter began with ‘maut ka paigam’ (a message of death) in bold letters and then went on to specify the demands. Curiously, the extortionist told the doctor that he was asking for “only Rs 20 lakh” because he understood that the “times are tough” because of the demonetisation. The extortionist told Pandey in the letter that he should consider himself lucky as, in normal times, they extort more money.The extortionist also said that he would accept payment only in Rs 2,000 notes, and threatened to kill Pandey’s entire family if he failed to pay the amount.According to police, four other doctors in the district also received similar letters.The police acted swiftly and arrested four persons in connection with the case on Tuesday.Saharanpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Tiwari said, “A group of private doctors, who run their clinics on Delhi Road, received the extortion letters. We managed to crack the case within a day and arrested four people. These men were also involved in stabbing sub-inspector Arvind Kumar and trying to snatch his gun in August.” “Police traced the accused easily as they were caught on CCTV cameras leaving the letters at the clinics,” a source said.