Jaipur: A government school teacher was arrested in Rajasthan’s Banswara district for allegedly posing as a gangster and demanding Rs 1.40 crore in extortion from two businessmen, police said on Monday.
The accused, Vikas Kumar Kamol, a mathematics teacher at a government school, hatched the plan after incurring heavy losses in online gaming and falling into debt.
SP Banswara Sudhir Joshi said the accused delivered threat letters on March 30, one slipped under a shop shutter, and another was handed to an employee at a farmhouse, claiming to be a notorious gangster.
In the letters, he demanded Rs 90 lakh from one trader and Rs 50 lakh from another.
Upon receiving information, the police formed a special team and scanned around 300 CCTV camera footages to identify the accused, the SP said.
Kamol had asked the victims to place the money at an isolated location in the Bhoyan Ghati area to facilitate an easy escape, but he was apprehended by police before he could execute the plan.
The motorcycle used in the crime has also been seized.
During interrogation, the accused confessed that he resorted to the extortion bid to repay debts after losing large sums in online gaming, he said. PTI
