Man held for Rs.5 mn extortion bid

NEW DELHI - A 23-year-old man has been arrested for trying to extort Rs.5 million from a businessman in south Delhi. And he says he was inspired by none less than Al Pacino’s character in “The Godfather”.

Arif Khan was arrested Tuesday from Jamia Nagar for trying to extort Rs.5 million from garment exporter Habibul Hassan, police said Wednesday. The businessman lives in Lajpat Nagar and owns a garment factory in Manihari Street of Farukhabad town in Uttar Pradesh.

“Khan called up Hassan and asked him to pay up Rs.5 million to save his life. And in order to create panic, he cut a chicken to pieces and threw it in front of the victim’s brother’s house in Farukhabad. Khan threatened that the next time he would cut an arm of his relative and send it to Hassan’s house if his demands were not met,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (south Delhi) H.G.S. Dhaliwal.

“He got the inspiration of the act of cutting an animal’s head and throwing it near the house of the target from the film ‘The Godfather’. He was also greatly influenced by the character of Al Pacino in the film,” Dhaliwal added.

Dhaliwal said Khan was also wanted for the kidnap and murder of Madhu Sudan Katiyar in Farukhabad. Katiyar, the 20-year-old son of Doordarshan’s deputy director Kamal Kumar, was abducted for Rs.2 million ransom in April 2007.