Four days after Chandigarh Police busted an extortion racket active in the tricity with the arrest of two members of Deepu Banur gang, their operation cell claimed the gangster was running the racket from Patiala jail.

Despite being behind the bars, Banur, a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had been arranging weapons for his gang, shared police officials at a press conference on Saturday.

The arrested accused are Ravi Kumar, alias Ravi Banur, 34, of Balmiki Basti, Banur, Mohali, and Som Dutt, 34, of Maloya Colony, Chandigarh.

They were nabbed from a check post, by a team led by Jasbir Singh, DSP (Operations), and inspector Harinder Singh Sekhon, near Shiv Temple in Phase 2, Industrial Area, following secret information on July 18. Their accomplice, Amandeep Singh, alias Mani Rajput, is at large.

Police had recovered two country made pistols, seven live cartridges, a scooter and 1.57 lakh cash from their possession.

While Ravi, according to police, was previously involved in three cases of attempt to murder, Arms Act and UAPA Act in Chandigarh and Punjab, Som was named in 15 cases of Gambling Act in Chandigarh and Punjab.

“At the behest of Bishnoi, one of his main associates, Deepak, alias Deepu Banur, made extortion threats to businessmen residing or operating in Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and other parts of Haryana. After making threat calls, Deepu directed his associates, including his cousin Ravi, to collect money from them. They used the money for gambling, lending and narcotics nexus,” superintendent of police Mridul said.

Police said in the last six months, Ravi had collected around 45 lakh from various businessmen and investigators had so far found documentary trail of 25-30 lakhs.

Sources said the gang used pictures of Lawrence Bishnoi while calling or sending messages through various social media applications.

A fresh case under Sections 384 (extortion), 386 (extortion by putting any person in fear of death or of grievous hurt), 34 (acts done in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act has been registered against Ravi and Som.