Srinagar: Panic gripped Eidgah locality in downtown Srinagar when police opened warning shots while overpowering three extortionists who had come to collect ransom from a trader, official sources said.

Three men came in an auto rickshaw to collect ransom from a trader Fida Mohammad Sofi at Sheikh Hamza Colony in Eidgah locality this morning but were overpowered by police personnel and whisked away, the sources said.

The sources said police personnel fired a few rounds in air while overpowering the extortionists.

Sofi had given a prior information to police that a gang has threatened him of dire consequences if he does not pay ransom, the sources said.

They said the identity of the captured extortionists was not known immediately.
Source : PTI