Arrested Avantha Group executive was miffed over transfer to Chandigarh: Delhi police

NEW DELHI: The senior Avantha Group executive arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs 25 crore from its director Anil Bhargava was miffed by his employer’s decision to transfer him to Chandigarh from Delhi and wanted to take revenge, the police said.

The Delhi Police arrested Jaspal Singh, 47, head of corporate affairs at Avantha Group company Ballarpur Industries, last week.

They also arrested another person, Deepak Kishore, who the police said made the extortion demand on Singh’s direction. Singh joined the Gautam Thapar-led company in 2005 as a manager and was soon promoted to the position of corporate affairs head because of his managerial skills, the police said. He felt humiliated by the transfer and roped in Kishore, an old associate, who travelled to Mumbai and called up Bhargava on his mobile and also sent SMS to his personal secretary by posing as ‘Khan Bhai’. Singh contacted Kishore and gave instruction only through email and WhatsApp.

At the time when the extortion calls were made, Bhargava was accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his tri-nation tour as part of a corporate delegation.

Having worked for 10 years at the company, Singh enjoyed the confidence of his seniors and knew details of the group’s recent sale of a power plant in Chhattisgarh to the Adani Group for Rs 4,200 crore. "Singh decided to utilise his intimate knowledge of the family and personal affairs of his corporate bosses to hatch a conspiracy whereby they could be threatened into submission and pay him extortion money," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.

Both Singh and Kishore had previously worked at a private company in New Delhi where Singh was a public relations officer and Kishore, a peon. "Singh lured Deepak into his plan by promising him a good job and a handsome amount," Yadav said.