NEW DELHI: When Lawrence Bishnoi‘s Man Friday Rohit Godara called to threaten a south Delhi builder last month, it initiated an investigation that required police to piece together a complex jigsaw puzzle to unravel an extortion ring. They scoured through a pool of phone and internet protocol records, tracing a labyrinthine trail of calls and messages that led them from the streets of south Delhi to the corridors of a Jaipur jail.
In the first week of Nov, the complainant, a builder, approached the authorities with a harrowing tale. He was targeted by notorious extortionist Rohit Godara who demanded a staggering sum of Rs 2 crore. Police swung into action and registered an FIR. A special team was formed, which used advanced technical surveillance to generate leads.
The team interviewed witnesses, informants and even the accused’s acquaintances, gathering a wealth of information that gradually coalesced into a coherent narrative. Meanwhile, cyber cell experts worked tirelessly to track down digital footprints, following a digital trail that ultimately led them to the doorstep of the extortionists.
As the pieces fell into place, police closed in on their quarry, finally identifying a man named Irfan and his associate, shattering the extortion ring’s carefully constructed facade. It emerged that the extortion demand was not born out of random chance but was the result of a carefully orchestrated plan. At the heart of this sinister plot was Irfan, a resident of Kabir Nagar. Irfan, unbeknownst to many, was a conduit of sensitive information, leaking crucial details to Godara’s network.
A few days later, police apprehended Irfan, seizing a pistol and four live rounds of ammunition from his possession. As the investigation deepened, it emerged that Irfan was not a lone wolf but a cog in a larger, sinister machine. He was in regular contact with two key figures: Sumit Yadav, an inmate at a Jaipur jail, and Mehtab, a shadowy figure operating from the fringes of the criminal underworld. This trio provided Godara with the intelligence he needed to strike the potential target. Godara then made the extortion call, demanding a hefty ransom of Rs 2 crore. The inmates, pulling the strings from afar, cleverly concealed their tracks. However, analysis of Irfan’s cellphone records blew their cover.
Godara is learnt to be in the US. He fled the country in June 2022 from Delhi and went to Portugal. Originally from Bikaner, Godara took to crime in 2010 and is wanted in at least 32 serious cases. From the murders of Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Gogamedi and Baba Siddiqui to firing at Salman Khan’s house, Godara’s name has frequently cropped up in sensational crimes.
