Chandigarh, April 17: Sampat Nehra, one of the gangsters to claim responsibility for attack on Punjabi singer Parmish Verma last week, has allegedly made extortion calls to the owner of Kumar Brothers, a leading medical store in Chandigarh.
A member of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Nehra made WhatsApp call and sent voice messages to Parmod Kumar, owner of the Sector-11 store, and demanded Rs 1 crore, said a senior police officer, not wishing to be named.
The Mohali police have also claimed that it was Parmish’s failure to pay Rs 10 lakh to gangsters as the reason behind the attack on him in Mohali past Friday midnight.
“The caller asked the businessman to pay the money to his aides at the earliest or face consequences,” said the police officer. “We have provided security to the medical store owner and deployed commandos. Cops in civvies are also on vigil near the shop and house of Kumar Brothers.”
While Parmod Kumar confirmed the police have provided him security, senior superintendent of police Nilambari Jagdale maintained security in the area had been increased as part of increased vigil.
Kumar Brothers are one of the leading chemists in the city. UT police suspect the gangsters may have made such threat calls to other businessmen too, though no one has come forward.
Sampat Nehra, who freed an undertrial from police custody in Panchkula last year, figures in the list of most wanted criminals of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab Police.
Nehra had been active in student politics at Panjab University and was close to Lawrence Bishnoi, a former leader of SOPU. He rose to prominence after Bishnoi’s arrest.
Last year, interrogation of Lawrence Bishnoi, who was brought to Mohali from the Faridkot jail, had revealed that the gang used to make extortion calls from inside the jail as well. Targets were prominent singers, arhtiyas (commission agents) and businessmen. Money was used to purchase weapons and arrange for hideouts.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
