Court extends police custody of man arrested in a bid to extort Rs 5 crore from businessman

New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Wednesday extended the police custody of a man of the Gogi gang arrested in a bid to extort Rs 5 crore from a businessman. It is alleged that the accused is a member of an international extortion racket.
It is alleged that the accused made a call threatening the businessman that it would be dangerous for the life of his son if doesn't pay the extortion. A WhatsApp call from an unknown number was made to the businessman. He attended the call. Thereafter he did not attend the call. Then he received an audio clip from the accused.
Judicial Magistrate of First Class (JMFC) Himanshu Sehloth extended the police custody of Naveen alias Sonu for three days after considering the application moved by Delhi Police. He is to be produced before the court on January 4.
The accused is stated to be the brother of gangster Dinesh Mathur alias Karala who is heading Gogi Gang after his death.
Accused Naveen was produced before the duty magistrate on January 1, after three days of police custody. He was sent in three days remand on December 29.
While seeking the extension of remand, the Investigation Officer (IO) submitted that during remand one iPhone, three other mobiles and two laptops were seized.
During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused had travelled to Dubai along with one Harish alias Chintu on a forged passport. He is involved in an international extortion racket, police said.
IO also submitted that a card was recovered from the accused. This card contains international and Jail-based contact numbers which are suspected to be linked with the international extortion racket.
His further custodial remand is required to recover the forged passport and to explore the accused's link in the international extortion racket. An application seeking permission to collect voice samples is also pending before the concerned court.
Advocates Virender Mual, Akshay and Manish Godara appeared for the accused. They opposed the extension of remand by submitting that the accused is not named in the FIR and that the alleged criminal activities pertain to a different matter. Recovery has already been made and therefore custodial interrogation is not required.
An FIR was registered on the Complaint filed by the businessman Pavan Kumar, a resident of Tagore Garden. He stated that he received a threatening call from an unknown number on WhatsApp on December 24, 2024. After registration of the FIR, Delhi Police had arrested Naveen alias Sonu.