Nabbed second time on extortion charges, youth now also faces SADA booking

GANGTOK, 13 April: 22-year-old Dipesh Trikhatri, a resident of Thakurbari in Kalimpong, arrested by the Sadar Police here on charges of extortion on 10 April is under police custody till the 14th and is now staring at additional charges framed under the Sikkim Anti-Drugs Act. This is the second time that the youth has been taken into custody inside a month on charges of attempting to extort money in Sikkim in the name of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
Out on bail at present, the accused, it appears, returned to the same trick when he allegedly started making threatening calls to the Marketing Manager of Rising Sun Cooperative Society and demanding Rs. One lakh to ensure his personal safety and that of the trade fair that the group is currently organising at Lall Bazaar.
Sadar Thana OC, PI Tshering Sherpa, informs that the accused was harassing the complainant with threatening calls claiming to be the GJM chief, Bimal Gurung.

The complainant is said to have received calls from the accused on 09 April at around 10 p.m. in the night and once again on 10 April at 10 a.m. When it became obvious that the accuse was also keeping tabs on the movement of the complainant, he decided to contact the police and lodge a formal complaint.
The cops convinced the complainant to “play-along” with the extortionist and arrange for the money to be delivered.
The venue was fixed for a hotel near Lall Bazaar for the same evening where the cops lay in wait and when the money was handed over, effected the arrest, catching the accused red-handed, the PI informs.
It was then that the police realised that the youth back in their lock-up was already facing extortion charges and was currently out on bail.
“We have requested the court to cancel his bail. He is presently under police custody at Sadar Thana and we are interrogating him. We also recovered contraband substances from his possession along with Rs.17,000 in cash and a SIM card from which he had been making the calls. We have also registered a SADA case against the accused and will produce him in front of the district magistrate tomorrow,” the PI informed.

[ANAND OBEROI]