OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal police, in a joint operation, arrested an extortionist from Sukhna in West Bengal. Tirap superintendent of police (SP) Rahul Gupta said that the district police and Darjeeling police arrested one Karim Khan from Sukhna, who used the name of Rocky Thapa, a self-styled captain of the NSCN (K-YA), while making extortion calls. Khan is a resident of Lalpahar Tipong Gaon in Assam's Tinsukia district. The SP said the police were receiving input about a series of telephonic extortions in Tirap district, originating from two phone numbers. The calls were made under the name of self-styled captain Rocky Thapa, claiming affiliation with NSCN (K-YA), he said.
The SP said the demands included seeking assistance from political leaders before elections and requesting rice bags for NSCN (K-YA) party members in Tirap. A fresh suo-moto case was registered at Khonsa police station on August 30 and an investigation was launched, the SP said, adding that during the investigation, the police managed to trace the individual from Sukhna near Darjeeling and he was arrested on Wednesday in a joint effort. The mobile handset and the SIM cards used in making extortion calls and bank account passbooks have been recovered from the possession of the accused, he said. Highlighting the modus operandi, Gupta said the accused, a former resident of Khonsa, had a criminal record with involvement in as many as five cases. Police said he used the name Rocky, someone he met while incarcerated in Khonsa jail in 2020.
After his release in April 2021, he had been using Rocky's identity for extortion, the SP said, adding that he admitted to extorting more than Rs 2 lakh. Gupta praised the West Bengal police for the support rendered to deputy superintendent of police Togum Gongo and sub-inspector Sheychin Chena. "The case is a good example of inter-state police coordination," he said. Meanwhile, the SP has requested that the residents report any extortion calls to the police, saying that the police will deal with extortionists with the full force of the law.
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