3 minors among 4 held for firing outside Delhi restaurant in extortion bid

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) Four people, including three minors, were apprehended for allegedly firing outside a restaurant to extort money in Delhi's Jhilmil Industrial Area, police said on Saturday.

A 19-year-old alleged shooter, identified as Manav, was among those apprehended, they said, adding they fired twice outside the restaurant. The second time, Manav also got injured after the restaurant's guard fired back at him.

One of the minors also operated a social media group titled "Shahdara Shooters", where videos of criminal acts were uploaded to gain followers. He was allegedly also involved in a 2023 murder case in Vivek Vihar.

The group was part of an organised extortion syndicate allegedly run by Yogesh Sharma alias Yogi and his associates. Their modus operandi involved firing at business establishments, filming the attack and then issuing threats to extort money.

The police said the shooter was contacted through an Internet-based calling app, and offered Rs 1 lakh per attack. Pistols were arranged for the accused, who carried out two rounds of firing after initially failing to execute the plan properly.

During the second incident, Manav suffered an injury from a bullet fired by the restaurant's guard. He later sought treatment while falsely claiming he was injured in a fall, the police added.

A complaint was received on November 10 from a 38-year-old woman, the operations head of the restaurant, who reported two firing incidents outside the establishment the previous night.

Around 10.40 pm on November 9, two men on a scooter passed the restaurant and the complainant heard two suspected gunshots. Nearly two hours later, the same scooter returned with an accompanying motorcycle, and the riders allegedly fired four rounds at her with the intention to kill, she told the police. Her security guard returned two shots using his licensed weapon.

The police said the restaurant owner later arrived at the spot, threatened the accused, and they fled from the spot. An FIR under sections 109(1) (attempt to murder) and 3(5) (joint liability) of the BNS and provisions of the Arms Act was registered.

The police examined CCTV footage, mapped the suspects' routes, deployed technical surveillance and activated informers, following which the four suspects were apprehended, they said.

The accused allegedly admitted to using the Internet-based calling app to conceal their identities, police said.

Two vehicles --” a scooter and a motorcycle --” along with a mobile phone used in the commission of the crime have been recovered. Efforts are underway to trace additional suspects and recover the weapons used, the police said. PTI SSJ MNK MNK