A Delhi tenant's elaborate extortion scheme, involving a staged shooting to implicate his landlord, has backfired, leading to his arrest and exposing a plot to delay eviction and demand a financial settlement.
Key Points
- A Delhi tenant, Avinash Kumar, was arrested for allegedly staging a shooting to extort money from his landlord and delay eviction.
- Kumar conspired with two associates to shoot himself in the thigh and claim he was attacked by unknown assailants.
- Police investigation revealed Kumar had filed a civil suit against the property owners and planned the staged shooting to pressure them into a financial settlement.
- A car used in the offence, a country-made pistol, magazines, and live cartridges were recovered by the police.
A tenant who allegedly staged an attempt on his own life to implicate a property owner in a bid to extort money and delay eviction has been arrested along with his two associates in north Delhi, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Avinash Kumar (42), allegedly conspired with his aides to shoot him in the thigh and portray the incident as an attack by unknown assailants, they said.
The Staged Shooting Incident
According to police, the incident was reported on May 10 when Kumar informed police that an unidentified person entered his rented accommodation in Kucha Bulaki in Chandni Chowk and fired at him.
Police said Kumar claimed that two to three rounds were fired and one bullet grazed through his right thigh.
"He was taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital by his son for treatment. A case was registered at Kotwali police station after the crime team inspected the spot and recovered blood stains and two empty cartridges," a senior police officer said.
Investigation Uncovers Extortion Plot
During investigation, police scanned footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras installed around the locality and adjoining routes.
The probe revealed that Kumar and his family had been living as tenants and had been asked to vacate the premises after it was sold by the owner, police said.
Investigators found that Kumar had also filed a civil suit against the owners in Tis Hazari court and allegedly hatched the conspiracy to pressurise them into a financial settlement in exchange for vacating the property.
Arrests and Recovery of Evidence
"Kumar, along with co-accused Deepak Kumar and Lokesh Dahiya, from Sonipat in Haryana, planned and executed the staged shooting," the officer said.
A car allegedly used in the offence was recovered from Deepak Kumar. Police also recovered a country-made pistol, two magazines and 14 live cartridges at the instance of Kumar, besides five mobile phones used by the accused during the commission of the offence.
