Blurb: The MA in economics from Annamalai University allegedly threatened Delhi businessman Pradeep Gupta posing as the daughter-in-law of a politician and demanded money
Eklavya Atray. New Delhi
The jury is out on whether recession breeds crime, but Delhi Police have arrested a laid-off woman financial expert for extortion.
The MA in economics from Annamalai University who worked for several financial firms as assistant manager before taking up crime to make easy money was arrested by East District Police on Thursday.
The arrest came after her very first, and probably last, victim Pradeep Gupta, who runs the company Money Matters at Mahajan Tower in the capital's Sreshtha Vihar area, tipped off the police.
Anand Vihar Police said the girl, posing as the daughter-in-law of a politician, allegedly threatened Gupta and demanded money. She used two mobile phones, one to issue threats and demand money and the other to instruct him where to deposit the money.
"The accused, Pooja [name changed], would use one phone to make threat calls and demand money. She would then switch off the phone and use a second phone to tell him where to deliver the money. She would also speak in different dialects to confuse him," a senior police officer said.
On November 4, Gupta complained to the police that Pooja had been making persistent calls to him, demanding Rs5 crore. He said she was threatening him to use her political clout to get his office raided by the CBI and the income-tax department if he failed to pay up.
"Gupta told us that Pooja threatened him that since he had promised loans to several people in lieu of property documents but had not delivered, his office would be raided, unless he pays her Rs5 crore," the police officer said.
The police laid a trap and asked Gupta to agree to pay, but in installments. They told him to invite Pooja near the DAV school in Sreshtha Vihar and pay Rs15 lakh to win her confidence.
"We formed a team of senior officers and arrested Pooja while she was taking a bag containing Rs15 lakh from Gupta. Two mobile phones were also recovered from her," the officer said.
During interrogation, Pooja, who graduated from the capital's Bhagat Singh college and was also a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Tuglakabad, told the police that her last employer pink-slipped her after recession hit the Indian shores. With her pockets running dry, she decided to look for ways and means to make money. She Googled and found names and numbers of various financial firms in the capital and decided to extort money from them, but ran out of luck in her very first attempt.
"She wanted to build a house and was planning to marry. She wanted to become a millionaire. She also needed money for treatment of her ailing parents," the police officer said.