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Extortion rackets busted

NEW DELHI, JAN. 10 .Two extortion rackets, one of them being run by a criminal carrying a reward of Rs. 1.5 lakhs, have been busted by the Special Cell of the Delhi police. Three men have been arrested in this connection.

The Special Cell recently got a tip-off that some persons working for the notorious criminal, Anil Bhagte, were extorting money from traders and farmers coming for business at Azadpur Mandi in North Delhi. One of the culprits was identified as Mukesh, a resident of Sonepat in Haryana. The police arrested him and recovered a country-made pistol with some live cartridges from his possession.

During interrogation, Mukesh confessed to his involvement in the extortion racket being run by Bhagte. He disclosed that he was working for Bhagte since 1996. The police said Bhagte, who was involved in at least 20 cases of murder, robbery and extortion, had floated an organisation named "Bharatiya Kisan Uthan Samiti'' in the Azadpur Mandi and used to provide sheds to farmers and traders free of cost. However, they had to pay protection money to Mukesh at regular intervals to retain the sheds. Mukesh had so far collected Rs. 5 lakhs from the traders. The police are interrogating him to know Bhagte's whereabouts.

Acting on another tip-off, the Special Cell arrested two men, Dharmender and Badan Singh, who were allegedly extorting money from the residents and businessmen of Okhla Industrial Area. The police recovered two country-made firearms from them.

During interrogation, the claimed that they had been running the extortion racket at the behest of a local politician. The police have, however, not got any strong evidence against the politician and have not taken any action against him. Further investigations in the case are on.

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