Bihar jeweller threatens to leave state after extortion calls

Patna, Jan 11 A gold merchant in Bihar's Begusarai district has threatened to leave the state claiming that the lives of his family are no more secure here.

Pramod Kumar Poddar, a prominent gold merchant of Begusarai, claimed that he had received an extortion call 11 days earlier but the district police were unable to arrest the accused.

"I lodged a police complaint soon after the first extortion call on the night of December 31. We are living in tremendous fear," Poddar told .

"The extortionist contacted me on WhatsApp several times after December 31. He also sent extortion messages. After he learnt that a FIR was registered in the city police station, the extortionist threatened me with dire consequence. I have blocked his phone number," Poddar said.

"I also e-mailed the same to the chief minister five days ago and also sent a reminder the next day, without any assurance, reply or result. I am paying tax to the tune of Rs 70 lakh including Rs 35 lakh to the Centre, still, our life has no value and I am feeling helpless here. I have a family, if anything happens to me or my family, who will be responsible? The chief minister should reply whether we stay here or leave the state. I will take just a couple of days to leave the state. There is complete Jungle Raj in Bihar," Poddar said.

"Bihar police are busy in search of liquor, they do not care about public safety. I had also applied for a gun license some 6 months ago but my file is pending in the office of the district magistrate," he said.

"We have received complaints about extortion and a FIR was registered against the unknown person. We are also tracking the call details of the accused to find some clues about the extortionist. For now, we have deployed police personnel outside the jewellery shop of Poddar," said Yogendra Kumar, SP of Begusarai.

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