74-Year-Old Sends 500 Crore Ransom Note To Judge To Frame Rival, Gets Caught

A 74-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj has been arrested for sending a ransom note demanding Rs 500 crore to a woman judge in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district. The police said the elderly man had planned to settle scores with a rival, signing the ransom note in his name. But the move backfired.

Judicial Magistrate Mohini Bhadoria, posted at Tyonthar court in Rewa district, received the threatening letter by registered post on September 2. 

The note, mailed from Prayagraj on August 28, warned her to "pay the money if you want to stay alive". It was signed by one "Sandip Singh" a supposed associate of the dreaded bandit Hanuman gang.

Acting swiftly on the complaint lodged by the judge, Rewa superintendent of police Vivek Singh formed a special team and traced the letter to its origin. Initial suspicion fell on Sandip Singh, a resident of Prayagraj, and his handwriting samples were taken. 

Inquiries in the village and forensic checks, however, suggested the man was being framed.

CCTV footage from the RMS post office in Prayagraj provided the breakthrough, showing an elderly man later identified as Devraj Singh - a resident of Rajakothi in Shankargarh town - coming to send the letter by registered post.

Investigations by the police revealed that Devraj Singh had a personal enmity with Sandip Singh, who had allegedly assaulted him weeks earlier.

Although Devraj lodged a complaint at Bara police station in Prayagraj, he was dissatisfied with the action taken. Then he conspired to implicate Sandip Singh by drafting the ransom note in his name.

"During interrogation, Devraj Singh admitted he wanted to settle scores with Sandip by framing him in a false case. He demanded Rs 500 crore from the judge to make the matter look genuine, hoping Sandip would be implicated," SP Vivek Singh said.

Devraj Singh was arrested on Thursday and produced before the Tyonthar court. The police have seized the evidence, including the registered post receipt, confirming his role in the conspiracy.