His phone used in extortion case, no bail for Ghaziabad man in extortion and attempt to murder case

Ghaziabad: An additional sessions court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Yash Joshi, a resident of Vijay Nagar, accused in a case of extortion and attempted murder of an elderly man employed at a wine shop. The court noted that investigators traced the ransom demand to Joshi's mobile number, citing this as key evidence while denying bail. Joshi, who has been in jail since Jan 25, claimed innocence and filed for bail, stating that he was not named in the original FIR and said that he was present in his society when the incident occurred.The case dates back to Jan 21, when Kailash Singh alias Bhati, a resident of Amroha, was abducted outside the wine shop where he worked in Sidharth Vihar. Judge Vinod Singh Rawat noted that Bhati is still under treatment and is not in a position to give a statement. He added that there is no sufficient basis to release Joshi on bail.A complaint was registered by his son, Pankaj, on Jan 23 against some unidentified criminals. Pankaj said the kidnappers allegedly called Bhati's friend Sunil Kumar, demanding that he pay a ransom of Rs 25,000 to a number belonging to a man named Choudhary Sahab.Sunil informed Pankaj about the call, who then made the payment. Despite the demand being met, his father was brutally assaulted and left on the road. He was then picked up by Sunil with the help of passersby and admitted to a hospital, where he is said to be in a critical state.Based on a the complaint, an FIR was registered under BNS sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insults intended to provoke a breach of public peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 308(5) (extortion), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 61(2) (when there is no specific section) against unidentified men.Joshi's name came to light when police found that he had spoken with other co-accused before the incident, and that an amount of Rs 25,000 had been deposited online into his account.Prosecution counsel said that Joshi, along with his co-accused, severely assaulted Bhati, inflicting serious injuries on him.Defence counsel Gaurav Pokhriyal said on Jan 23, Joshi was summoned to the police station on the pretext of questioning where he was illegally detained, and money was demanded for his release.