Pune News: Bishnoi Gang Extortion Threats Continue: Cloth Merchant Demanded ₹2 Crore In Third Incident This Week
Pune News: Bishnoi Gang Extortion Threats Continue: Cloth Merchant Demanded ₹2 Crore In Third Incident This Week
Pune, June 30: Pune has witnessed yet another alleged extortion threat issued in the name of the Bishnoi gang, with a cloth merchant from Uttamnagar receiving a death threat and a demand for ₹2 crore. A case has been registered at Uttamnagar Police Station, while the Crime Branch has launched an investigation. This is the third such incident reported in Pune within a week, raising serious concerns among the city’s business community.
According to the police complaint, the 47-year-old complainant owns a cloth store in Uttamnagar and is also engaged in the construction business. On Saturday morning, he allegedly received an internet call from a person identifying himself as Shubham Lonkar. The caller claimed to know details about the complainant’s construction business, vehicle registration number, daily movements, and informed him that he was an office-bearer of the Uttamnagar-Shivane Merchants Association.
The caller also allegedly claimed to possess information about the complainant’s family members and issued a death threat, warning him to “take care of himself.” He then demanded ₹2 crore in extortion money, stating that further instructions would be communicated later. Following the threat, the businessman immediately approached Uttamnagar Police and lodged a complaint.
As a precautionary measure, police have stepped up security at the complainant’s cloth shop, residence, and construction company’s office in Narhe. Senior Police Inspector Raghavendra Kshirsagar of Uttamnagar Police Station said that the Crime Branch is conducting a detailed investigation into the case.
This marks the third extortion case linked to the alleged Bishnoi gang in Pune within a week. On June 22, a steel industrialist in Wanowrie reportedly received an extortion demand of ₹50 crore, following which unidentified assailants opened fire at his factory in Manjari Budruk. On June 23, a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor from Wadki also reported receiving a ₹2 crore extortion demand.
In another related development, a woman from Ravet recently filed a complaint with Pimpri-Chinchwad Police, alleging that her husband, who is based in Dubai, was threatened with a ₹5 crore extortion demand in the name of the gang. The series of incidents has created anxiety among traders and industrialists across Pune, with police intensifying efforts to trace the callers and verify any links behind the threats.
