Woman Among Gang of 4 Arrested for Blackmailing Doctor to Extort Rs 10 Lakh

Bhubaneswar: A gang of four including a woman was arrested by Tamando police for allegedly extorting Rs 1 lakh  from a doctor in Bhubaneswar. They were trying to extort Rs 10 lakh from the physician.

The arrested persons were Bapi alias Nishikant Patra (33), Irani Patra (27), the wife of Nishikant, Ganesh alias Manoranjan Pradhan (30), Girija alias Saktikant Harichandan (36).

According to police sources, on September 8, the accused hatched a conspiracy to trap the concerned doctor. They called the doctor to Irani’s rented house on September 8 night telling that she was ailing and needed immediate medical help.

The doctor reached the house at around 11.00 pm. When he reached there, he was restrained in a room by Irani, Bapi, Ganesh and Girija, who demanded Rs 25 lakh at knifepoint. They also beat him up. They threatened that the woman would file a false criminal case of sexual assault against him.

To escape from their clutches, the doctor agreed to pay Rs 10 lakh and shared the password of his phone pay payment gateway with the culprits.

The accused persons were able to transfer Rs 1 lakh from the account of the complainant as it was the limit of transfer of his UPI account.

Then Irani and Nishikant forced the doctor to sign a cheque of Rs 9 lakh in her name.

Receiving the complaint Tamando police initiated an investigation and arrested the four persons. Cash of Rs 30,000, a knife, two android mobile phones, a cheque of Rs 9 lakh issued to Irani Investigation revealed that the arrested persons had committed similar crimes in the past. However, the victims did not report it to police. One of the accused Girija was involved in a murder case in the Jankia police station area.