Man injured in alleged extortion attempt

GREATER NOIDA: An accountant of a flour mill was injured when a few men allegedly from the dreaded Sundar Bhati gang tried to extract Rs 5 lakh from the mill owner in Ecotech III area on Friday.
According to Shaukeen Ali, owner of K S Shakti Bhog flour mill in Haldouni market of Ecotech III area, he was sitting along with his accountant Imran at the mill’s office when seven-eight men arrived there in an Indica and a Swift car.
“One of them grabbed my neck and made me speak to someone who identified himself as Sundar Bhati. The man on the other side identified himself as the gangster and asked me to hand over Rs 5 lakh or otherwise they would kill me. They asked me to call on a number and inform when the cash is arranged,” Shaukeen said.
When Shaukeen dialled the number, nobody picked it up. “I then refused to give them the money following which one of the men fired at me. I had a narrow escape from the bullet. However, it hit my accountant, who got injured,” he said.
“One of the miscreants, Dineshwar, was caught by the labourers and handed over to police. The others managed to flee,” he added.
However, police said that prima facie, it seems that the mill owner had to pay Rs 5 lakh to Dineshwar. “It has surfaced that two years ago, the complainant had bought wheat worth Rs 5 lakh from Dineshwar from the Sikandrabad mandi. He had not paid him and the latter seems to have arrived to collect the amount,” a police officer told TOI. Shaukeen, however, denied any pending transactions with Dineshwar. “I have never known him. I saw him for the first time today only.”
The police had lodged an FIR under sections 147, 148, 149, 386 and 307 of the IPC.
“An FIR has been lodged. We are investigating all angles. Dineshwar had been detained and questioned regarding the incident,” circle officer (III), Greater Noida told TOI.
He added that Imran's injuries didn't seem to be caused by a bullet.