Infatuation can make people do bizarre things, and the Patna police are finding out that it can also be a law and order headache. An extortion letter sent to Dr. Sunil Kumar, a general surgeon, led the cops on an investigation trail that led them to a story of unrequited love.
On Saturday, Sunil, who has a hospital near Kumhrar, lodged an FIR with the Agamkuan police station after he received a curious extortion letter that demanded Rs 2 crore from him. Curious because the purported sender, Ashok Kumar Yadav, had stuck his passport size photo to it, and also provided two cellphone numbers. The cops zeroed in on Ashok, the driver of the commandant of the homeguards based in Bihta, and brought him in for questioning.
He pleaded innocence, and asked if anyone hated him enough to try to frame him up, he named Bihta resident Lalan Mohan Rai, claiming that Rai had a personal feud to settle with him. Rai was arrested and sent to judicial custody.
As the investigations continued, the police happened to question a woman homeguard trainee at Dr Sunil's hospital, who said that a man named Bhishan Kumar Singh had been troubling her for some time. She said Bhishan did not like Ashok and had even called Ashok up and told him to stay away from her.
The police sniffed something amiss and checked the call records of Bhishan, who does odd jobs for a living. A team also went to Chhapra to Bhishan's home and found his handwriting matching with the one in the letter.
"The suspicions were proved right when Singh was found absconding," said a police officer.
The puzzle fell into place after that.
"Investigations have revealed that Bhishan (41) from Dariapur area in Chhapra hatched the plan to write an extortion letter to Dr Sunil Kumar posing as Ashok," said senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj. "Bhishan knew the doctor, who has a hospital near the Kumhrar area, and even used to recommend patients in Chhapra to visit him in Patna, for a commission. He also coached Chhapra students in football.
"He had feelings for the homeguard trainee, who hails from Dariapur," SSP Maharaaj continued. "Although she never reciprocated his feelings, Singh grew increasingly anxious and insecure with the trainee's closeness to Ashok. He concluded that the two were having an affair, and struck upon a plan to put Ashok out of the picture. He got hold of a passport size photo of Ashok and wrote an extortion letter to the doctor posing as the driver. The letter was despatched via speed post. Singh hoped the doctor would immediately approach the police with the letter, and he was proved right."
What connected Bhishan to the doctor, said a police officer, was that "Bhishan was a regular at Sunil's hospital where he used to bring patients and also collect his commission. On one round of the hospital to speak to the doctor, the police saw the woman. The police questioned her and found that Bhishan had been troubling her for some time."
The police are now conducting raids to find Bhishan, who has fled. The cops are although not ruling out involvement of other people, including Rai, in the extortion conspiracy.
Another officer said: "Bhishan could well have taken the help of other people. If Rai is found innocent, he will be freed. But at this moment, the police are focussing on catching Bhishan. More details will come out only after his arrest."
In October, an SMS threatening to blow up the Patna Sahib Railway station had turned out to be a hoax carried out by a live-in couple - who were in an extramarital affair - to frame the woman's husband.
