Two criminals who were lodged at the high-security Tihar Jail were arrested for making extortion calls of Rs 50 lakh from a Delhi-based businessman, an official said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Aas Mohd alias Aashu Khan alias Aashu Chaudhary and Danish a.k.a. Tiggi, made extortion calls while they were incarcerated at Jail No 8 of the Tihar Prison.

Sharing details, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Priyanka Kashyap said a business man who resides in Ghazipur Dairy Farm, Delhi reported that on June 10 he received a WhatsApp audio call from an unknown number, which was apparently an international number. “The caller threatened him of dire consequences in the name of a notorious jailed criminal infamously known as Hashim Baba, if he does not pay Rs 50 lakh,” the DCP said.

Initially the complainant thought it was a prank call and did not report the matter to the police. However, when again on June 13 he received the same sort of call from the same number on his WhatsApp, he reported the matter to the police.

Accordingly, the police registered a case at Ghazipur police station and an investigation into the matter was initiated.

During the course of investigation, it was revealed that the complainant received WhatsApp calls that seemed to be an international number. Since it was an international or virtual number, no subscriber details or location could be ascertained.

“After technical investigation the police team working on the case, came to know that the call was being generated from Tihar Jail, Delhi. On further probe, it was found that the call was made from Jail Number 8,” DCP Kashyap said.

Analysis of the call details and scrutinizing the IP details, it was revealed that the call was being made by convicted criminal Aas Mohd.

Subsequently, convict Aas Mohd was interrogated and revealed that he along with his barrack mate Danish hatched a conspiracy to extort money from the complainant. It was Danish a.k.a. Tiggi who had all the details of the complainant since he had worked with one of the complainant’s relatives.

According to the official, Danish is an associate of dreaded jailed gangster Hashim Baba. “They arranged a small smart phone and SIM. Got a virtual number from their source, made a WhatsApp call to the complainant and demanded money in the name of Hashim Baba,” the official said.

Both the accused were then arrested in the case.