COIMBATORE: The Peelamedu police on Friday registered an extortion case against a 10-member gang that held a West Bengal-based garment wholesaler at a hotel and extorted Rs 26.54 lakh and valuables.According to police sources, Y Debjit Rana, 25, a resident of Hooghly district in West Bengal, buys garments from Tirupur to sell them in his home state. He supplies garments to shops in some other states too. Two months ago, Rana connected on Instagram with Anand Kumar, who claimed to run a garment business in Tirupur.On July 5, Rana met Anand Kumar and his associate, Senthilkumar Periyasamy, at a private hotel in Coimbatore, where Senthilkumar requested a business loan of Rs 1 crore, which Rana turned down.The situation escalated when Rana returned to Coimbatore with two friends, Sidharth and Adharshkumar, checking into a hotel near Sitra on Aug 16. On Aug 17, Anand Kumar, Senthilkumar and eight unidentified accomplices arrived in two vehicles, confined the trio at knifepoint and assaulted them.The assailants forcibly moved the victims to a hotel in Palladam, where they coerced them into transferring Rs 26.54 lakh to their bank accounts. The gang robbed them of a one-sovereign gold ring and two smartphones before abandoning them near the Sitra hotel.After receiving treatment in a private hospital, Rana lodged a complaint at the Peelamedu police station on Friday. Police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and launched a manhunt to nab the suspects.
