New Delhi, March 13 The Delhi Police has arrested two more members of an organized "traffic fraud and extortion syndicate," including its alleged mastermind, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 20, an official said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Jai Bhagwan (38) and Shivam Sharma (26), were allegedly part of a network that sold fake stickers or 'marka' to drivers of commercial vehicles to help them evade restrictions during no-entry hours in the national capital, he said.
According to police, the stickers were sold to transporters and vehicle owners for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month and were used to falsely claim exemption from traffic checks and challans.
The syndicate also allegedly recorded videos of traffic police personnel during enforcement drives and later edited and circulated them on social media to pressure officials into allowing vehicles to pass during the restricted hours.
The arrests were made during the ongoing investigation of two cases related to organized traffic fraud and extortion.
Police said Jai Bhagwan, a resident of Rithala who is originally from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, was arrested on March 5. He has been identified as the leader of one of the syndicates involved in selling the illicit stickers to commercial vehicle drivers and owners.
In a separate operation on March 6, Shivam Sharma, a resident of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested for allegedly distributing the stickers to transporters and vehicle owners as part of the organized network.
According to the police, the cases were registered following complaints by Delhi Traffic Police personnel after several drivers of light and heavy goods vehicles attempted to evade checks and produced suspicious stickers or key rings claiming exemption from challans.
Subsequent technical surveillance and investigation revealed the existence of an organized network running a parallel system to cheat drivers and exert pressure on traffic police officials.
During the operation, police recovered 282 stickers or "marka" used in the fraud, six mobile phones and a car.
Police said Jai Bhagwan has previously been involved in four criminal cases, including those related to murder, dacoity, arms offences and extortion of police personnel.