Criminal hi-tech: Extortionist with MBA degree sent on remand

Vinod Kumar was arrested on Saturday by SIU and CPLC from Saddar

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent on remand the extortionist with an MBA degree from a British university who used Skype calls to force people into paying him.

On Monday, 30-year-old Vinod Kumar was presented before the incharge judge of ATC-III by the Kharadar police. The hearing of the case took place inside the chamber of the judge, Akhlaq Hussain Larik, who granted the police the suspect's custody for a one-week physical remand. Kumar was arrested a few days ago during a joint raid of the Special Investigation Unit and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee in Saddar.

The investigation officer of the case submitted to the court that the suspect was apprehended after a probe into a complaint lodged by a senior executive vice-president of EFU insurance company. The complainant had informed the police about someone making extortion calls via the internet using a private number. According to him, he was being victimised for the past year even after he had already paid Rs3 million as extortion.

The suspect was threatening to kill him and his family if he failed to pay Rs1.5 million more to him, stated the papers submitted in court. This time, the victim lodged a complaint with the police instead of paying the money.  According to the investigators, the suspect was extorting money in collusion with his absconding accomplice, identified as Suhail Channa, and it was the first case reported against them.



Triple charges

Meanwhile, the same court also remanded another suspect in three cases pertaining to assaulting public servants, attempting to murder and possessing illicit weapons and explosives.

Ali Raza, 22, was brought to court by the Kalakot police, which contended that he was arrested during a robbery bid after an encounter. Since he was shot in the leg, the suspect could not walk himself and had to be assisted by a policeman when he was taken to the judge's chamber.

However, the suspect had a different story to tell. Raza said he was picked up around 18 days ago from his house in Garden. His arrest came on the instigation of Inspector Chand Khan Niazi, a key absconding suspect in the triple murder case of notorious gangster Arshad Pappu and his aides, he said.

"Niazi has an old enmity with my father over some financial disputes," the suspect told The Express Tribune. "My father had taken a loan from him on interest a few years ago." Raza added that Niazi roams freely in Lyari and runs his loan business despite being wanted by the courts.

However, the judges sent him to police custody on physical remand till July 2 and asked the investigating officer to produce a progress report by the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2015.