Ex-staff threatens bizman in name of Bishnoi gang to extort Rs 30 lakh

Lucknow: A former employee of a pharmaceutical warehouse owner posed as member of the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang and sent him a letter issuing threat to kill and demanding Rs 30 lakh. Sarojininagar police arrested the accused on Sunday.The case came to light on Jan 30, when complainant Gaurav Batra, resident of Rohit Residency in Vikalp Khand, approached Sarojininagar police and reported that a duty guard at his pharmaceutical warehouse, Karun Enterprises, in Hindnagar Transportnagar, had received a sealed envelope addressed to him in which a handwritten letter was found demanding Rs 30 lakh to be paid within 15 days. The letter threatened that if the demand was not met, Batra and his employees would be killed one after another. It also stated that if he agreed to pay the ransom, he would have to install a flag in front of his house, after which he would be told where to deliver the amount. The note was undersigned ‘Bishnoi Gang, Purvanchal (East UP)'.
Based on the complaint, police registered FIR under Section 308(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and four special police teams were constituted to probe the case. ACP, Krishnanagar, Rajneesh Kumar, said investigators scanned footage from nearly 100 CCTV cameras installed in and around the warehouse and Transportnagar area. The breakthrough came when footage captured a masked man arriving on a scooter, handing over the envelope to the guard and fleeing the spot discreetly.Following the CCTV trail, police arrested Umesh Kumar Yadav (38) from Rahimabad Road at around 12.20 pm. The scooter used in the crime, along with a helmet and shawl worn to conceal his identity, were recovered from his possession."During interrogation, Yadav confessed that he was previously employed at Karun Enterprises but quit in Aug 2025 after his settlement dues were allegedly not cleared," he told police.