KATHMANDU: Prison is no more a bar for dreaded criminals to extort money from well-off families and businessmen. Prisons have become a secure fortress for them to perpetrate crimes from as they can get the work done through their accomplices.

It all happened that in a recent case in Dilli Bazaar Jail, police found out that a gangster was carrying out criminal activities through his accomplice. Police on Monday night uncovered an extortion racket when they threw the net wider on a gangster

Abhishek Giri (35), hailing from Biratnagar and currently languishing in the jail on murder charge.

Superintendent of Police Ganesh KC, in-charge, Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka informed that police had netted Bikram Thapaliya, one of the accomplices of Giri, in Anamnagar on Monday at 9:30 while extorting hefty sum from Dhyan Govinda Baidhya, proprietor, Malekhu Construction at Hanumansthan.

“Upon interrogation, Bikram (23), hailing from Biratnagar, said he did what his boss (Abhishek) instructed him from the jail,” informed SP KC. “Abhishek was transferred to Dilli Bazaar Jail from Biratnagar on November 27, 2009 after he went on a rampage in the district prison.”

He was convicted of

murdering Param Singh Yadav on September last

year and was slapped with life sentence. Abhishek had also repeatedly issued threats to Baidhya via telephone meant for making unavoidable calls by inmates and asked him to pay Rs 650,000.

SP KC told that Bikram had recently forced Baidhya to seal his sign with a note that the latter would pay him a ransom of Rs 1.5 million as per the instruction of Abhishek. “Arrest of Bikram can help the police uncover other racketeers in the Valley,” claimed KC.

According to him, the special squad deployed

by Metropolitan Police

Sector, Singha Durbar

has also recovered a motorcycle (Ko 4 Pa 9728),

four cheques of KIST Bank worth Rs 270,000 and an invoice of gold ornaments amounting Rs 370,000 in the name of Abhishek.

Dilli Bazaar Jail has barred people from visiting him following the incident.