Patna, July 14: A medical officer of Saran district has stopped going to office fearing threat to his life after receiving extortion calls on his cellphone.
An anonymous caller has demanded Rs 10 lakh as extortion from Dr Ratnesh Prasad Singh, presently posted as the in-charge of the centre of Tuberculosis Eradication Programme. The caller allegedly threatened the doctor with dire consequences if he did not pay the amount within five days.
A worried Singh reported the matter to Town police station in Chhapra, the Saran district headquarters, around 60km north-west of Patna, yesterday.
“I decided to lodge a formal complaint when I received a text message on my mobile on Friday morning. I had received three threat calls on my mobile on the night of July 12,” Singh said.
Town police station house officer (probationary) Shayali S. Dhurat listened to Singh’s complaint and pledged to provide him all help.
The caller asked the doctor to reach Chetan-Chhapra bridge under Baniapur police station of the district within the stipulated period to pay the extortion money. Singh, a resident of Konch in Gaya district, is worried and prefers to remain inside his rented house at Salempur roundabout in Chhapra.
“I am frightened after the incident. I have asked senior police officers to provide security to me,” he said.
Singh is the second public servant to receive extortion calls within a week. Earlier, the block development officer of Areraj in East Champaran district, Bhagwan Upadhyay, received a similar call on his official mobile last Thursday.
“The caller, who introduced himself as Bhola Tiwari, alias Ajuba Baba, demanded Rs 10 lakh as extortion,” the BDO had told the police.
The two instances of extortion threat calls in the past week have cast a shadow over the Nitish Kumar government’s claim of good governance. The extortionists, who had gone into hibernation because of stiff police action over the years, are rearing their heads again. But this time, they are targeting public sector employees.
“The police acted swiftly in all these cases and the criminals have been put behind bars,” said Ravinder Kumar, additional director-general of police (headquarters).
