New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) A 21-year-old man aspiring to join the Indian Army was arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs 20 lakh from a jeweller in east Delhi's Madhu Vihar, police said on Sunday.

Hemant, a BSc graduate, decided to make easy money and tried to extort money using the name 'Kala Rana', a member of the notorious Kala Jathedi gang, they said.

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To evade tracking by police, Hemant watched several videos on Youtube to learn making calls using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said the accused said during interrogation that he had read on the internet about Jathedi's arrest by the Delhi Police's Special Cell and also came to know that 'Kala Rana' was in-charge of the gang.

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"With the intention of making some quick money, he decided to use the name of 'Kala Rana' to extort money," Kashyap said.

The matter came to light on August 5 after a jeweller based in Madhu Vihar here reported about a phone call he received from an unknown number.

He alleged that the caller threatened him and asked him to pay Rs 20 lakh or face dire consequences, the police said.

Based on his complainant, a case was registered and during the initial stage of the investigation, all those associated with the victim's business were questioned. Crime records of criminals who use similar modus operandi was also checked, the senior police officer said.

"Using technical intelligence, our team was able to finally identify and nab Hemant, who is a resident of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh," she said.

When interrogated, Hemant revealed that this was not the first time he had made such a call. On July 23, he had made a similar extortion call to another jeweller in Palam Colony. He had threatened to kill the victim in case he failed to pay Rs 10 lakh, the officer said.

The accused wanted to join the Indian Army. He had even participated in an Army Rally held in Mathura in March. He was looking for a job but also wanted to make easy money, police said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)