Gangsters lure jobless Hry youth with money for their extortion biz

Gangsters settled abroad are luring Haryana youngsters with easy money and selling them dollar dreams to expand their extortion network in the state.

- Bhavey Nagpal

From promising expensive watches to help in fighting criminal cases and offering to settle them in foreign countries, the gangsters use Haryanvis, aged between 18 and 30 years, to do their bidding, say investigators probing recent cases of murder and extortion.

“The recent arrest of two local youngsters involved in the firing at Aman Dhaba in Kurukshetra district's Shahabad town highlights this worrying trend of foreign-based gangsters luring unemployed youth into criminal activities, particularly in the northern districts of Haryana,” said Wasim Akram, the superintendent of police (SP), special task force (STF).

“In the last few days, we have arrested at least 18 such operatives influenced by foreign handlers through social media apps. Their interrogation has revealed that these jobless men are used for arranging arms, conducting recce, providing logistical help, making cash deals, driving vehicles for firing in the air to scare the extortion target. These youngsters don’t have criminal history,” he said at a recent press conference in Karnal.

However, Akram said, the arms recovered were found to be sophisticated. “The weapons are being smuggled into Punjab via drones from Pakistan,” he said.

The youngsters are paid anything from Rs 5000 to Rs 20,000, depending on the risk involved and their experience, police officials probing the extortion cases in various districts, said.

North Haryana’s foreign link

Many of the gangsters operate remotely from Canada, the US and Portugal besides other countries in Europe and use social media apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram to communicate with their local contacts.