Two held for extortion in South Kashmir

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 31: Police arrested two persons for extorting money from the family members of a prominent dentist in South Kashmir’s Qazigund area of Kulgam district while the role of an army soldier is also being investigated.
A police officer, who was not authorized to speak on record to media, told Excelsior that they received complaint from Dr Bilal, a well-known dental surgeon who lives in Qazigund, that two armed men – one of whom was masked – barged into his house and sought Rs 32,000 from his sister and her husband.
Subsequently, the officer said, police arrested a person Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat on the instance of Dr Bilal’s sister as she identified the accused while he was at District Hospital Qazigund. “We picked up Muzafar and he confessed his crime. He also named his accomplice, Nissar Ahmad Bhat and today we also arrested him,” the officer said.
He said after questioning both the accused confessed that they barged into the house of the Doctor and extorted money from his family. “Police have registered a case under FIR number 303/2015 under Sections 452 and 386 RPC in police station Qazigund,” he said. However, the accused told police they were carrying toy guns.
The officer said there was a new twist in the case after an army soldier Mohammad Yusuf Teli went to the home of Dr Bilal yesterday and sought an apology on the behalf of accused. “He told them that they had done mistake and sought apology. He also said that they are his childhood friends and he is ready to return Rs 32,000 extorte from them,” the officer said, adding: “subsequently we picked up the army man for questioning as well.”
The officer said the police are now investigating the role of the soldier in the case. “We are probing whether he too was involved in the extortion and we are also investigating the claim of the Dr Bilal’s family that the extortionists were carrying weapons. We suspect may be they were carrying the weapon of the soldier,” he added.