Two K'pong men held for 'extortion': had done a similar thing some years ago too.

SNS, SILIGURI, 21 JULY 21 : The Cyber Crime Police Station under the Siliguri Metropolitan Police arrested two persons for allegedly extorting money from an educational institution while posing as representatives of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM).

Police said they received a complaint from the private institute, stating that the president of the governing body had received a phone call on 8 July front a person who introduced himself as the personal assistant of GJMM leader Bimal Gurung and requested a donation of Rs 1 lakh for party funds, as "that would he spent for welfare activities in the Hills."

"Believing the call to be genuine, the president of the Managing Committee on 9 July directed his staff to transfer the amount from the Institute's bank account to the account of the payee at UBI, Kalimpong Branch. However, a day after, he received another phone call from the same person, demanding Rs 2 lakh more. Suspecting something was amiss, he used his connections to verify the caller's authenticity, only to find out that his institute had been cheated," said a senior police officer.

A written complaint was lodged at the Cyber Crime Police Station over which a specific case under proper sections of law was registered and investigation started.

Du ring the investigations, it was found that the money had been transferred to a bank account in the name of Tara Pariyar of Third Mile, Lower Tashiding Busty in Kalimpong. Acting on a tip off, a police team arrested Tara Pariyar yesterday and on interrogation he admitted that he, along with his accomplice Dipesh Trikhatri, had committed this crime.

"Leading to the confessional statement of Tara Pariyar, the police arrested Dipesh Trikhatri of Thakurbari, Kalimpong, the same day and recovered a mobile handset through which the call was made, and one ATM Card through which the money was withdrawn," the police officer said.

Later in the day, Morcha leader, Mr Gurung demanded strict action against such people who used his name to extort people. He said Trikhatri had done a similar thing some years ago too.

Police sources in Siliguri said the men had duped some individuals earlier too, while they used the name of another Morcha leader Binoy Tamang back then.