The popular Hindi film “Special 26” acted as inspiration for a group of cons who tried to extort Rs 20 crore from a Mumbai-based company. Nine people were arrested for the act who sent fake notices of the Enforcement Directorate to Nippon India Paints, the police said Thursday. The accused have been identified as Akhilesh Mishra, Darshan Harish Joshi, Vinod Kumar Patel, Dharmender Kumar Giri, Naresh Mahto, Asrar Ali, Vishnu Prasad, Devender Kumar Dubey, and Gajender alias Guddu.
“His colleague was informed by one of the accused that the Enforcement Directorate had registered a case against them and soon they will be in deep trouble and he can help them sort out the matter through his sources,” Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said, adding that the company president received two notices from the ED.
The accused told him that he can fix it through one of his liaisons in the ED office. The president booked flight tickers for the other accused and a meeting was set up at Delhi’s Ashoka Hotel. However, the man now started demanding Rs 20 crore to negotiate and settle the matter.
This set alarm bells ringing for the complainant who then contacted the Delhi Police. The police registered an FIR and constituted several teams to nab all the accused. One team apprehended five of the accused persons from the hotel.
During interrogation, one of the accused said three more partners were supposed to meet them at Khan Market. The police caught them from Khan Market before nabbing another accused later.