Gurgaon: He posed as a Punjab gangster but his Haryanvi gave him away.The caller threatened a city liquor contractor with “dire consequences” if he did not pay up, and said he would call again to name the amount. But his Haryanvi raised suspicions, and the second call never came: police traced and apprehended the alleged extortionists before he could make it.A 25-year-old court clerk, Sumit Kumar, and his 15-year-old accomplice, a Class 8 student, were nabbed last week by a crime branch team led by sub-inspector Lokesh Kumar. Sumit, a resident of Sikanderpur, works for a lawyer at the district court. Technical inputs helped investigators track the duo.The case came to light when the liquor contractor approached Farrukhnagar police on Oct 28. In his complaint, he said he received the extortion call at 12.41pm on Oct 25. The caller allegedly posed as a Punjab-based gangster wanted by FBI. However, what made the complainant suspicious was that the caller spoke Haryanvi even as he claimed to be a dreaded Punjabi gangster who has made headlines and is wanted by FBI.Police said the idea allegedly came to Sumit while he was listening to ‘Kasht’, a Haryanvi album by singer Aman Raj Gill. A line in the song — ‘1 baje phone plus one aale numbera te’ — refers to calls from gangsters using foreign numbers beginning with +1. It allegedly prompted him to look for a way to obtain such a number, in this case, +5.He then used an app, which police sources said was based in Tehran and offered virtual numbers for around Rs 700. The service allows users to select the platforms on which they want to use the number, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Sumit allegedly chose WhatsApp, obtained a Chile-based +5 number and used it to contact the contractor. He then got his accomplice to make the call while impersonating the gangster. Sumit was to collect the money if the contractor agreed to pay, police said.Police are now trying to trace India-based people associated with the app to establish how its services are accessed and whether they are being misused. Investigators are also checking whether the service has been used in other extortion attempts and examining the chain, from procurement of the virtual number to the call, to determine whether others were involved.The song itself is also under the police scanner. Sources said investigators are examining its lyrics and video, which features weapons and references to gangsters, to determine whether any legal action is warranted against the song and its makers.A police officer said youngsters were often influenced by the lifestyle projected by gangsters and notorious criminals, particularly through social media videos. “When these gangsters appear before the court, their group members shoot their videos. They then use the background music of such songs with those videos and post them on social media. Youngsters, including teenagers, get influenced and think they can also follow their ways to earn fame and make money,” the officer said.Another police officer said Gurgaon has a special monitoring cell to track social media posts glorifying weapons, gangsters or their lifestyles. “Many people have been counselled by us under our Operation Ankush. Those posting videos with weapons are made to apologise for their content on social media,” the officer said.“Extortion is a major challenge for the state govt, and we don’t want to leave any stone unturned to control these notorious elements,” a police officer said. An FIR was registered under Section 308(2) (extortion) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
